False Reality
by xMikaelx
Summary: Shirou Emiya had always aspired himself to become a Hero of Justice. But when a mysterious dream started to haunt him, he found himself curious to find out the meaning behind it...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: To those who have read my previous work, Unlucky Servants, this is a rewrite of that. I know, I know, that one only had 6 chapters. But, as I progressed with my writing style and realized more mistakes that can't be fixed, I thought to myself that there would be no saving that story in its current form. So, instead of editing my past chapters that seemed irredeemable, I'll have Unlucky Servants be reincarnated.

I'm sure all of you will be asking: Will there be changes? To answer that question, you'll have to read it for yourself to find out. But since I'm a nice person, I'll brief you guys on what will remain. First is the Servant Switch, which was the main concept behind Unlucky Servants. But, unlike the original, there will be a small catch to it. Second is the roster of characters who will become Servants. You guys already knew Accelerator will be Berserker and he will still retain the same character he had in the original (except chapter 5, seriously I may have gone overboard on that one). You guys were also teased on who became Servants in the previous Chapter 6, like ****** being Assassin. There will be changes in the way the events flowed in the first four chapter of the original, especially Accelerator and Illya's part (That would also mean a big change in the AC side too). Also, I need to fix my world-building and character interactions. Lastly, I'll try to control the humor and crackiness for future chapters to, well, not piss off some people who are in for a serious ride.

And with that, please enjoy the First Chapter of False Reality!

* * *

 **Disclaimer: TAMNI And F/SN belongs to their respective creators, Kamachi Kazuma and Type-Moon.**

* * *

 **Part 0**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _What if there are certain people that is given a chance to live again?_**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _What if there is a way to make one person's sole wish a reality?_**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _..._**

 ** _The people who are given a chance to live again have to kill each other for the sake of granting their sole wish?_**

 ** _The Holy Grail War is such ritual._**

 ** _Seven Heroic Spirits of legends are summoned by seven Masters to engage in a bloodbath, in which the victor will have their greatest desire granted by the Holy Grail, the spoil of the war that has the ability to grant anything. Be it money, fame, or world peace, the Holy Grail can grant those wishes..._**

 ** _But..._**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _What if those Heroic Spirits were to be replaced by people who lived in the present?_**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _What if those people had unimaginable powers and abilities bestowed to them through Highly Advanced Technology and Magic based on Tales of Yore?_**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _What if..._**

 ** _..._**

…

…

… ** _Hehehehehehe..._**

 ** _Hahahahahahahaha!_**

 ** _This is gonna be fun!_**

* * *

 **Part 1**

 _It all started..._

 _Wait, how did it start?_

 _All he saw was..._

 _Wait, what did he saw?_

 _And then he..._

 _Wait, what exactly did he do?_

 _And then there was..._

 _There was..._

 _Wait...What the hell is going on...?_

 ** _"..."_**

 ** _"_e_ _a_ _! T_ _t _ h_i_!"_**

 ** _"..."_**

 ** _"_ __** ** _f_ _u _ m_ _ i_ _l_ _ _h_..."_**

 ** _"..."_**

 ** _"_ _r_..._ w_ _t_ o_!"_**

 _And then the scene shifted to..._

 _...Light._

 _Blinding light surrounded...whoever that figure belonged to. Kneeling in prayer...That figure...was alongside..._

 _..._

-0-

"Uwah!"

Inside a dark, dust-filled storage shed, a red-haired teenager abruptly woke up from a dream he had never had. Breathing heavily, he wiped the sweat that slid down on his dirt smeared face as he tried to remember the contents of the dream he had, but failed to do so.

' _What was up with that dream? It's unlike anything I had in the past...Damn, forgot it again...'_

The weird dream he had first appeared a few days ago. But unlike the other dreams he had in the past, he kept forgetting this particular one, as if it never occurred in the first place. He knew he had the dream, but the contents and details pertaining to it seemed to pop like a bubble, never to return until the next time he sleeps.

Of course, some dreams were like the rest: forgettable. But for Shirou Emiya...

 _'This is starting to bother me a little...Then again, it's just a dream. Nothing to worry about...'_

He looked around and saw to his right side the heater he worked on as requested by someone. His tools were scattered all around him, along with other materials.

By the time he turned his head to the metal door, a purple-haired girl opened it as she entered the shed. Looking at the direction of the bright sunlight made him wince and blocked it with him hand.

"Senpai~! It's morning- Oh, you're awake already?"

"Sakura? No, I just woke up."

Seeing his underclassman made him realize one important thing: breakfast duty was taken away from him again by Sakura.

Stretching the loose muscles of his shoulders, Shirou gradually stood up from his makeshift bed and faced the girl.

"Sorry...Looks like I slept here again. You made breakfast already?"

"Yes! But it's really unusual for you to wake up this late, especially in the past few days...You really should stop staying up so late at night."

 _'It's actually the opposite...'_

He tried to repair the busted heater, to no luck, but he would at least dedicate some more time to train his body before calling it a day. He would still wake up early at some point in time, depending on how much time he took to finish said training and repairs. But, thanks to the unusual dream he had lately, he slept longer than usual. As a result, his underclassman would come and try to wake him up. He would still wake up early thanks to her, but for him, he doesn't want to bother her even further.

But for some reason, he found it comfortable sleeping inside the dirty, old shed. It must be relaxing for him to sleep near dust and rust.

Also, he's the Master of the house and he should have taken the role of serving his guests! Sadly, said guest, Sakura Matou, who also happened to be his friend's younger sister, was the one serving him instead. That reminded him of the time when she first stepped foot inside the residence.

He wasn't feeling well at the time and she offered her assistance. All things considered, she would have been a good housewife if only her cooking skills were to be improved. Since then, she would come to the residence to help around with the chores and, at the same time, teach her the Emiya Art Culinary Skills. He already considered her a part of the family, in a sense.

"I'm really sorry...Anyway, go on ahead! I'll clean up here and follow after I'm done!"

"Okay!"

And so Sakura went back to the main building, leaving the door open as the cold, winter winds blew some dust to his direction, making him feel more awake and a bit blind. Rubbing his eyes with his dirty hands would just make it worse so he left it alone. He set aside the still broken machinery and started to pick up the tools and items he used last night, placing each of them to where they belong.

As he went further inside the shed, his eyes wandered to the magic circle that his dad probably used in the past. He still wondered what it was used for, as Kiritsugu Emiya had never told him much about his life before they met.

 _'Can I really help people with Reinforcement Magecraft alone, Dad?'_

Ten years ago was when they first met. Kiritsugu saved him from the flames that consumed everything that belonged to him. His family and home burned to the ground and turned to ash. He discarded his humanity to save himself as he turned a blind eye from those he passed by, asking for his help.

The Fuyuki City Fire Incident.

It was the biggest tragedy that took the lives of many when an unknown mass of fire appeared out of nowhere.

Shirou Emiya was one of the only few survivors that escaped death.

It was in the hospital when they formally introduced each other. Like most orphans, they would be sent to an orphanage. Kiritsugu, at that time, gave him options to where he wanted to stay: to live in the nearby church or to live with him and get adopted as his son. Choosing the latter, a simple smile appeared on the adult's face as he packed his things.

At that same moment, he also revealed to him a secret: He's a Mage and Magic exists.

A few years later, at Shirou's insistence, Kiritsugu taught him what he knew about Magic. He learned a few tricks, starting with Reinforcement Magecraft.

Reinforcement Magecraft, also known as Strengthening Magic, was considered a low-level spell most Mages could cast. It strengthens the object the spell was cast on, making it more durable. By changing the item's composition, the caster could make it as hard as steel. Also, along with Reinforcement, he can also do a quick analysis of the structure and make-up of an object.

He also knew how to do Projection Magecraft, although Kiritsugu told him it was a useless spell since not only was the Prana cost higher, but also the objects copied and made were hollow and useless.

As an Informal Magus, or rather a Spellcater, he had a really low pool of Mana and a low number of Magic Circuits. Add to that the painful process he needed to go through just by opening one of his Magic Circuits.

Just. One. Circuit. And it hurts like hell!

He wasn't a pure, full-fledge Mage like his adoptive father, but he trained himself and practiced using Magecraft, so that one day he would become what he dreamed of and uphold his father's ideals.

Sadly, he can only use two spells, one of which is still imperfect.

He sighed as these thoughts went to his mind. Even then, the most alarming concern for him at the present was that forgettable dream/nightmare he had lately. What it was about, he couldn't remember. Keeping a dream journal would still be useless.

People say that people tend to forget unimportant stuff. He felt that dream was important to him for some reason and yet he kept on forgetting it. If that was the case, why could Shirou not let go? Why does he want to remember the contents of that dream?

There must be something important about that dream.

Something that involved him.

 _'...I have to prepare for school. Maybe I'll remember when I least expect it?'_

After he placed everything where they should be, Shirou Emiya stepped out of the old, dusty workshop of his and shut the metal door.

* * *

 **Part 2**

"Well then, see you guys at school! Don't you dare be late!"

After she ate most of the breakfast Sakura cooked and slightly ruined Shirou's trust in oyster sauce, Fujimura Taiga drove her trusty scooter and noisily zoomed out of the Emiya Residence.

Even if the two students of Homurabara Academy got left behind by their high school's most energetic English teacher, Sakura and Shirou started preparing to leave as well.

A few minutes later, after they locked up the house, the two went and followed their usual route to the high school they attended in. Breathing in the cool, fresh air of the early morning, Shirou cleared his mind with worries and walked slowly to his destination with Sakura.

Planning his schedule, he thought that today may be a good day to do part-time work, as he remembered that he was about to hit rock bottom with his funds. He also confirmed that Sakura would be preparing tonight's dinner, so he will try to get home early and looked forward to it as they also talk a bit of how things were going for the two of them at school and other stuff.

Once the two of them reached and waited for the signal light to cross the pedestrian lane, Shirou saw from across the street a short girl.

Part of her long, silver hair hid under her white wool cap, with its string-like decoration hanging to both sides of her head. Wearing a white sweater that matched her petite build, her green eyes slightly wandered around to see her surroundings. She also seemed to be like someone who wouldn't mind the cold, as seen with her short, white skirt that revealed her bare legs. For someone who looked like a lost kid, she looked rather composed and relaxed.

Something about her felt familiar for the boy, yet at the same time, she was not. It was like he had seen her before somewhere. It was even possible that she might have been traversing the commercial side of Fuyuki City, Shinto. A total stranger that he might have seen as a customer to Coppenhagen, the place he worked part-time in.

Of course it still went down to her being a total stranger.

The pedestrian signal light finally switched colors from red to green, although there weren't much passing cars on the streets earlier. The only people there were Shirou Emiya, his underclassman, and the oddly familiar girl on the other side of the street. They walked at the same time, passing by each other as they reached one another in the middle of the lane.

And that was supposedly it. Nothing weird was supposed to happen. Two people, stranger to one another, were supposed to cross the empty street and reach both ends of the lane.

And yet...

The boy stopped in the middle of crossing the road.

 _'...Huh? What was that feeling I had just now?'_

He shouldn't have felt anything. Crossing the street was part of his normal routine. But what he felt was not part of it when he crossed just now.

Turning his head back to the sidewalk he came from, he still saw the girl in white, albeit in a hurry. Once she turned to the corner, her montage was gone.

 _'No, it wasn't from her...What's going on?"_

First, it was that weird, forgettable dream. Now, that strange feeling he had as he crossed the street?

There was no way those two events were connected. It might just as well be considered as a coincidence. Yet, Shirou felt worried that something life changing will happen to him soon.

"Hm? Senpai, is something wrong?"

Sakura, who already reached the other side walk, called to him, curious as to why he stopped midway.

"Ah. It's nothing. Let's go."

Trying to forget whatever the hell happened at the pedestrian lane, he hurried along with his companion to their destination, although he knew he was too early to go to school.

Little did he knew, there was another person nearby who came out once the place was cleared of people. The person only whispered one line before making a move.

"I finally found you..."

* * *

 **Part 3**

After separating with Sakura at the school's front gate, his successful attempt to fix one of the school's heaters as fulfillment to the request of Issei Ryudou, his friend and the student council president, and a short chance encounter with Rin Tohsaka, the school's idol of sort, the two boys went to their assigned classroom to attend their Homeroom Session.

Opening the sliding door, the first thing Shirou saw was the weird atmosphere that surrounded his friend and classmate, Shinji Matou. Even though it's already weird that his blue, seaweed-style haired friend would usually be surrounded with girls, he found it even weirder that there was an utter lack of them.

In fact, none of the girls in the class even tried to approach him and just walked past his seat.

Alone, Shinji just sat there with his head on the table, awfully quiet like a little sheep being kept guard by a shepherd so that he wouldn't get way.

As much as he liked to ask the forlorn person, Shirou left him alone and continued to proceed to his seat. Issei, who was with him, also thought there was something wrong with Shinji and started a conversation with his companion.

"Emiya, do you think something happened to Matou? He seemed down lately."

"Well, last time I saw him like that was when he slipped on a banana in front of the many girls he was with. That was back in middle school."

"Something like that happened?"

"Yeah...Embarrassed, he stayed away from school for a week. When he came back, he acted like nothing happened. It may just be the same case."

"Really...That was rather intriguing."

The school bell rung, which alerted everyone that classes were about to start. Wishing each other good luck, the two proceeded to their respective seats. Shirou placed his bag on top of the accompanied table and sat there like the other students as he prepared for class.

Looking out the window while he rested his chin with his right hand, he thought that this day couldn't get any weirder. He's also worried about the fact that Shinji felt down.

In times of frustration, the possibility of Shinji hurting his sister, Sakura, was rather high. As much as he wanted to punch him, he would only make things worse. In short, he can't do anything. But if he could help solve his friend's problem, he might be able to save Sakura from being abused. Again.

 _'If that's the case, I'll talk to Shinji during lunch break.'_

As if on cue, the class' homeroom teacher came rushing in from the entrance as she loudly greeted everyone...

"GOOOOOD MORNING EVERY-GAH!"

...And suddenly tripped as soon as she reached the short platform.

 _'...Is it hard trying to be careful for once, Fuji-nee?'_

He thought first-hand before class continued onwards.

-0-

"...Hm? What is it, Emiya?"

As soon as fourth period ended, the red-headed Emiya approached the down-trodden Shinji. The boy looked at him with a bored, depressed expression, while his head rested on top of the table. It might have been worse than he thought.

"Yo, Shinji! Wanna have lunch together at the cafeteria?"

He still held the same expression, with a tinge of intrigue present on his right eyebrow as his friend looked at him.

"You, Emiya? Asking me to eat lunch with you? Are you joking? What about your other friend? Won't he be lonely?"

"I forgot to bring my lunchbox. Don't worry, this'll be quick!"

The truth was that he had his packed lunch with him all along. Also, he already had plans for him and Issei to have lunch together. But that promise will have to be broken for the sake of possibly saving a person from physical maltreatment. Maybe he'll promise him to have him continue fixing the heaters tomorrow.

"? Fine..."

Accepting his request, Shinji exhaustedly stood up from his seat and followed the person who asked to become lunch buddies with him. Was he actually tired or was it the depression turning him into some sort of a sorry-looking wimp?

As the two quietly walked through the hallways leading to the cafeteria, some of the students looked at them, particularly at Shinji. Some even whispered to each other.

"Hey, why is Matou depressed? Did somebody die?"

"Maybe he got turned down? There was that time last week where he confessed his feelings for Tohsaka..."

"Really? THAT Tohsaka? He still hasn't gotten over it?"

"But he had always been surrounded by girls even after that, so that's not it?"

"So why is he alone with Emiya? What happened to his harem?"

"Dude, now that I thought about it, I saw him walking around with another person wearing some strange costume. He was shouting those childish super finishers you would hear when watching tokusatsu shows!"

"Tokusatsu? You mean Sentai Nininger and Kamen Rider? Isn't that for kids?"

"Shinji, A Tokutaku? Hah! Now that's funny!"

"He's still watching those kinds of shows? Lame, bruh!"

"..."

The more he heard the people around them just made him more confused. In fact, the part about him being a Tokutaku surprised him more than he should have. Was that really true? Even though they were friends since middle school, he didn't know of his friend's childish side, although he was as petty as a kid. He'll have to find out once they reach the cafeteria.

To be honest, the rumor about Tohsaka rejecting Shinji seemed way more interesting to talk about. Of course, as a fellow Tohsaka fan, he didn't want to pry open a comrade's recently closed wound, or things might get worse.

Once they reached the cafeteria and the two of them got the food they ordered, they sat on the table near the entrance.

As the two of them quietly ate their lunch, Shinji jumped the gun and questioned him, suspicious of his intentions.

"Hey. What exactly are you planning, asking me out to eat here?"

Not making him wait any longer, Shirou laid out the very reason he called him out for lunch.

"Tell me, Shinji, were those rumors true?"

His mouth agape, Shinji suddenly stood up from the seat across him, garnering the attention of the other students.

"Wha- Did you really call me out here to make fun of me?!"

"That's not it!" I just want to confirm something! Also, keep it down! You're disturbing the others!"

"...Tch!"

Calming himself, Shinji sat down again, this time being more wary of him. He needed to thread carefully here or he might lose the only chance to stop Shinji from using his little sister to vent out his anger.

 _'Now, where do I start? How about...'_

Remembering the rumors he heard along the way, he first thought of asking about the Tokutaku thing, since that seemed pretty recent and the thing that's probably bothering him the most.

"Shinji, are you being bullied just because you like Tokusatsu?"

Silence overcame the two as he asked the one thing that might have been bothering his friend. He had a rather stern face as he looked at his troubled friend who had been quiet since he asked that. He wasn't exactly shocked, but Shinji looked at him blankly, unsure of what to say to him. Waiting for the reply, the seaweed head finally spoke.

"Huh? Is that all? That's the rumor you wanted to confirm?"

 _'He's taking the issue lightly than I thought. Wasn't that it? Then was it really the Tohsaka-'_

"I'll tell you this right now before you misunderstand, but there's no bullying."

"Then what-"

"That bastard just doesn't appreciate what I'm doing for him."

...Shirou got more confused. Shinji actually tried to help someone? That's rare-no, more like, is the world ending?!

With him now wearing the shocked expression, he continued to question his friend.

"Let me guess. You tried helping this person, but that person declined?"

"More like denied my wonderful suggestions to him. Why won't he like Kamen Rider Drive's Basic Finisher? Or Kamen Rider 1's Lightning Rider Flash Kick? Or Kamen Rider Kabuto's Clock Up Finisher? How about Kamen Rider Black's Punch-Kick Combo? Those finishers would actually suit him, based on his outfit! It's designed for speed and agility!"

...Shinji was not making himself even more clear.

"Huh? What? You lost me Shinji..."

"Wait! Now that I thought about it I haven't seen his Rider Machine, so Drive's Finisher may not work on him...But *mumble**mumble*"

With all that talking and mumbling, there was only one thing he could confirm about Shinji Matou:

He's a **BIG** fan of tokusatsu shows, especially the Kamen Rider Series.

Shirou looked at his friend with confused, swirling eyes as he started ranting about stuff he couldn't fully comprehend, like how Ryuuki's Final Vent wouldn't work since it needed the contract monster's flames, how it's even more impossible to use Wizard's Strike Wizard finisher since it needed magic rings, especially Fourze's Rider Rocket Drill Kick since there would be a lot of attachments, and so on and so forth.

The more he kept yammering, the more Shirou wanted to ignore him even further and continue biting onto his meal. It started to get cold, to be honest.

But as he listened on, he realized this was actually the first time he saw his friend talk about something he actually liked, even though the franchise was aimed for kids. When he was younger, he only saw one Kamen Rider show, which was the first original Kamen Rider from the Showa Era. He did enjoy it a lot, but that was it.

In other words, he wouldn't be able to help Shinji much as their scope of knowledge for the popular series differed from each other. If that was the case...

After finishing his awfully, long explanation about how all Kamen Riders were possibly connected, Shirou cut him off as lunch break's about to be over, massaging his temples as he tried to decode the problem.

"So, in summary, you tried to help a fellow fan by giving him ideas, but didn't like it? Isn't that a little shallow for you, Shinji?"

"Kuh! Shut it, Emiya! You don't know how much effort I tried to put into those finisher ideas! He's the clueless one, not taking advantage of the situation! For a Kamen Rider look-alike, he has no idea how the system works!"

"Maybe he had his own ideas for a finisher?"

Shinji slammed his hands on the table, to emphasize his point. It made him flinch as it was sudden.

"He doesn't have a single one! The reason I'm angry is because he didn't even acknowledge MY ideas! What a clueless fool! That useless Se- I mean, idiot!"

No matter how he looked at it, Shinji's in the wrong. He's looking down at the other party and just shoved in his own ideas, telling them that it was more superior than this 'friend' of his. He will have to resolve his problem now or somebody would get hurt, particularly Sakura.

"Then what did he say about his preference? Was there actually a Kamen Rider finisher he liked?"

"Huh? Are you taking his side?!"

"I'm not. Just tell me."

Bitterly looking at him, Shinji tried to calm down and held the most ridiculous thinking face he had. Trying not to laugh, Shirou held his poker face and waited. That was when a light bulb lit above his friend's head.

"Actually, he did tell me he wanted it to be as simple as possible. No special effects and other complicated stuff. He said he liked Kamen Rider Ichigo's since it could be plausibly used and is basically just a high drop kick, but he added that he can't replicate whatever effects it was supposed to be included. Well, that's what he told me, but I denied it since it looked really weak."

Weirdly enough, whoever Shinji's other friend was, he and the other person seemed to have the same preference. Of course, the later Kamen Riders he had no idea about might have been a better choice. But, because the other party mentioned something that they liked, he could just tell his friend to accept it.

Sometimes, Shinji Matou need to learn how to accept other people's opinions. With that, Shirou gave his suggestion.

"Let him do that then. If Ichigo's Finisher is simple and doable, that's your only choice. As both of you are fellow fans, you two needed to at least agree on something, right? Besides, he's the first Rider that spawned other heroes who fought for justice. Wouldn't that be a good homage to the first series?"

Shinji was about to say something, but stopped and considered what he said. A few seconds later, the bell rang, signifying the end of lunch break. It's time to go back to their classroom.

"Ah, gotta finish the food! Shinji, you too!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

The two teenage boys quickly munched on their lunch, Shirou beating his friend to the finish line. As they cleaned out their plates and prepared to leave, Shirou gave Shinji a quick remark.

"Shinji, if you ever have a request, no matter how ridiculous it may be, just tell me and I'll do what I can."

Feeling satisfied that his suggestion would help his friend, he tried to return to class first. Shinji then grabbed his friend's wrist to stop him, his head lowered to hide the expression he wore. Turning his head to the one who grabbed him, Shirou waited for the boy's response.

"...Fine. I'll consider your's and his suggestion."

After saying that, Shinji Matou went ahead of him once he let go of his wrist. He thought that his friend had more things to say, but left since it might have been embarrassing.

 _'I hope that's enough to cool him down..."_

With him solving his friend's problem, Shirou left for his classroom, feeling full yet wept for the wasted packed lunch. He regrettably thought to himself that he should have at least took it with him to the cafeteria.

But what was done was done. He will have to do something about that later when he returns home.

* * *

 **Part 4**

Classes finally ended for the students of Homurabara Academy. During after hours, students would either attend to their respective club activities or head straight home.

For Shirou Emiya, he chose to head to his part-time work. Apologizing to Issei about missing lunch with him, he promised that he would work on the heaters the next day.

As he was about to step out of his classroom, he was blocked by a blonde girl, her hair styled in twin drills.

"Shero~! Why did you leave me during lunch~? I was searching for you, you know~!"

"Wah! Edelfelt-san! Don't pop out of nowhere like that!"

He recognized her as Luviagelita Edelfelt, a foreign, second year transferee that belonged in Section 2-A, the same class as Rin Tohsaka. For some reason, she kept latching onto him since the first day they met.

During that time, he interpreted her actions as her way of being friendly in accordance to the culture she grew up in. He thought that that was how they did things in her country of origin.

From the small information he had gathered regarding the girl, she came from a rich family. She was also the current head of her family, who decided to do business here in Fuyuki City since her arrival four weeks ago, the day the third term started. He wasn't sure what kind of company she led, but he heard they were rather influential.

Yet for a rich girl like her to approach him, a simple man trying to survive through part-time wage, just what did she have in mind?

Luvia went and clung onto his right arm, as Shirou almost lost his balance and felt something soft brushing onto him. A boy his age would surely blush profusely from this kind of action. He was really confused at the moment. Luvia caught onto his expression and asked away.

"Ara? Is something the matter, Shero?

"W-well..."

As much as he wanted her not to do these kinds of things in public, a girl is a girl. In that case, he would have to thread nicely so that she wouldn't hurt her feelings. Also, he will be late for work if this went on any further.

Carefully slipping himself out of the girl's grasps, he scratched his head and looked at his make-believe wristwatch.

"Ah! Look at the time! I'm sorry, but I have to get going! I'll be late for work if I don't leave now."

And with that he-

"Wait, Shero!"

"Wah!"

-was grabbed again on the arm, causing him to tumble over the floor along with Luvia.

As the end result, the two of them were sprawled down on the floor. Shirou got smothered even further, this time, to the face with the girl's soft pair when she fell on top of the poor redhead.

"?!"

"Kyaa!"

Luvia quickly stood up, covering her bosom as she took a few steps back from the boy. Shirou, to show how sorry he was, prostrated in front of her.

"I-I'm sorry Luvia! That was an accident just now! Please forgive me!"

Honestly, for a teenage boy his age, it felt rather nice. Problem being was that incidents like the one earlier happens almost every time they stumble upon each other. Apologizing afterwards became a sort of a routine check for the two of them.

"I-it's fine...Y-you don't have to worry about it... _At least it was you..._ "

"Huh?"

Shirou didn't clearly heard what the blonde girl said at the last part, as aforementioned girl quickly changed the topic to help them recover from the short, embarrassing incident a few seconds earlier.

"P-putting that aside! Did you mention that you'll be late for work, Shero?"

"Y-yeah! That's why I-"

Before he could finish what he was supposed to say, the golden, twin drills spoke up in a loud, elegant voice that seemed to ignore the passing students in the hallway. Holding out her hands, she announced to him her true intentions.

"If that is the case, then I, Luviagelita Edelfelt, propose to escort you to your workplace!"

"Eh?"

Time froze for Shirou Emiya.

All the students around them during the time the curled blondie said those words, especially those that belonged to the male sexuality, felt something negative that flowed into their being. Shirou wished he might have imagined those stares that pierced though his whole body, giving him chills.

At the very moment he felt that, he quickly formulated complex combination of words that would help him escape those death stares. The option of sentences he could address to her contained, 'It's alright, I don't want to trouble you, Edelfelt-san!'. Another option was to respond to her with, 'Nah, it's fine! I can reach the place in time!'. The last option included, 'They felt really soft'.

..Wait, why did he think of the third one?! Sure, they felt great, but it's better to shut up about this kind of honesty or he will further fuel the anger that lingered within each male student around the two of them.

Time didn't stop. His brain did.

Of course, there was only one answer that he could give her.

-0-

Time passed by so quickly, yet the situation remained the same.

Even for Shirou Emiya, the deafening silence inside the luxurious limousine was too great a burden, making the atmosphere between him and Luvia seemed awkward. Gripping his knees with both hands, he thought to himself if there was an underlying motive behind the transferee's actions.

Complying to his classmate's bold request, he currently rode together with said classmate on their way to Shinto. The limousine was rather spacey, enough to fit eight to ten people on the passenger side alone. To one side was a small fridge and a glass rack.

He became more amazed at the Edelfelt person herself. Since entering the transport, they hadn't held a single conversation. She wasn't the same person she was with him back at school, which Shirou found really weird.

What happened to her forward personality, like she was back at school? Could it be possible that he was in the presence to another side of the person known as Luviagelita Edelfelt?

 _'Should I say something? I think it's been around 10 minutes since we left...Then again, she might have been tired from school work...'_

Opposite of the foreign student, Shirou glanced at Luvia as she sat on her side of the seat, quietly staring at the scenery outside as if she was deep in thought.

Shirou wasn't the type of person that become shy around girls. In fact, he was used to it thanks to Fuji-nee.

The problem was the complicated relationship between the two of them.

He never really knew Luvia, as it had been a month since her arrival, a pretty weird time to get transferred. She had a rather proud and approachable aura surrounding her, making the students look at her in awe as she passed by them. She had that "Milady" thing going on with her too, being followed by her butler, even though they were inside school grounds. Did she have so much influence that the school actually permitted the butler, or she just did what she wanted?

He still had no idea what piqued her interests on him though.

Their first contact started with that accidental bump with her at the school hallway during the second day of her stay. Of course he said the usual words used for apologizing, but what struck him as weird was the expression she held when their eyes met for the first time.

It was then followed by a refreshing laughter to hide her earlier expression, then she reverted back to her usual, high and proud self as she continued to walk away.

In hindsight, laughing like that as she traversed the school hallway was both weird and distracting, as it garnered a lot of attention.

Even then, what seemed to be an accident not worthy of reminder developed into string of events that had evolved into the current situation.

Speaking up, Shirou initiated a conversation with his female escort.

"So, Luvia-san, what's going on? Was there a reason why you asked me here?"

Her attention was called upon, Luvia glanced to his direction and a smile arched on her face. She seemed excited to answer his question.

"I see no problem with assisting a classmate of mine, Shero."

"I-I see..."

Twirling her hair, she continued her reply to the boy.

"A reason was created because a person had an underlying motive for their actions. As someone born from the Edelfelt family, an act of goodwill does not deserve a proper reason, especially if it was for the sake of their subjects and those who need it."

"?"

Seeing the confused look on his face, Luvia cleared her throat and gave the easy to understand definition.

"In short, as one of those who belonged in high society, it is our duty to provide help for the needy. We call that Noblesse Oblige."

She sounded proud and formal with the way she spoke Japanese, not that it didn't hinder the message she wanted to convey.

"Noblesse Oblige? So rich people have that kind of principle, huh? Didn't expect that at all..."

He sounded impressed from her explanation. Politics-wise though, that didn't really apply, since it was obvious that rich politicians only help to get the citizens votes, not because they have a duty to do so.

Even so, hearing this from Luvia might have given him a higher opinion of her. Although...

"Also..."

"Also?"

She then motioned her arms, reaching out to him with her right hand while she placed her left hand above her chest, as if for emphasis to what she was about to say.

"By doing this, not only will you be indebted to my actions, but this will give us more time to be together alone, My lovely Shero!"

He knew it.

No action was without reason. There would always be a reason or motive to a person's actions, no matter what the situation. That was how he understood the human psyche worked, at least.

Even then, there was no way to predict whatever was in this girl's mind and actions.

The only thing he did after he heard that ridiculous response was to dryly laugh. There was just no way he could properly respond to that.

Being constantly guarded by her servant made her a recluse to the other students. There was also the impression of her being a high class nobility that nobody can reach her position, resulting to them not approaching her at all. There might have been some people who dared approach her, but were not successful because of how intimidating her butler looked.

And then there was him, the only person who made contact with her, the girl who could rival Tohsaka in terms of popularity.

Really now, what made him so different from the other students? Was it because of that small accident back then?

The limousine finally reached its destination, as they were notified by the Edelfelt's handy butler.

"We have arrived, Milady."

"Huh, that was quicker than had I expected. Are you sure we are on the right place, August?"

"I have my utmost confidence in mapping the whole city through memory, Milady."

Luvia spoke what she thought as a reaction to her driver's notification. Shirou, on the other hand, still felt the weird atmosphere their earlier conversation produced. Even then, this is the part where they wish each other good day.

He heard the door open to his right and saw Luvia's butler, August, assisting him. Taking a closer look, he observed how age had managed to reach the old man with pointed ears that made him look like an elf, but not really. Not a single wrinkle on his black uniform showed how much he cared for his image as someone who serves the Edelfelt family.

"Thank you, uh, August was it?"

"It's my pleasure, Shirou-sama."

"P-please drop the -sama. It's kind of embarrassing..."

"Understood."

Shirou stepped out of the luxurious vehicle and saw in front of him Coppenhagen, the shop where he does part-time work. The door was closed and the butler returned to the driver's seat. The passenger window opened as it showed the owner of the vehicle. He faced her and bowed to express his gratitude.

"Thanks for the ride, Luvia-san. I woudn't have made it on time if it weren't for your help."

"It's my pleasure to help those who needed it, especially if it's you, Shero."

Hearing her mutter his name, he felt himself correcting her pronunciation of his name, but left it alone. Besides, it did still sounded like 'Shirou'. He then turned to the direction of the shop, ready to enter the premises.

There was really nothing much to say, since they were about to part ways. But...

"Shero!"

Hearing the girl call his name, Shirou turned his head as he held onto the shops's glass door. He saw Luvia slightly open her lips, but withheld whatever she was about to say and continued.

"It would be nice if we could meet tomorrow for lunch! I'll prepare the most delicious meal you will ever have tasted on the face of this earth!"

Shirou nodded in response. Luvia can cook? That was an interesting tidbit.

"Sure!"

The window went up, fully covering the interior and face of its passenger as the luxurious vehicle drove off to wherever it might head to.

 _'The most delicious lunch? Looks like a competitor. In that case, I'll have to prepare as well!'_

Ready to start working for his wages, he opened the door and greeted his boss.

Shirou made another promise to another person. But to him, it wasn't much of a big deal. As long as they were happy, he would feel the same way as them.

* * *

 **Part 5**

Mion River divided the two districts of Fuyuki City, Shinto and Miyama. Over it was the famed red bridge that connects the business and residential sides of the city. Beside the river was a park that a few people would use so that they may be able to relax. The riverside park also offered to those who didn't have transportation and entrance to the bridge walkway.

Among the few people in the park was a girl that looked like she was trying her best to survive the cold by placing her sweater above her lap, shivering like a little kitten as the night drew near. Sitting on one of the park benches, she looked to her left, where the horizon was painted orange.

Lost in thought, the girl named Index stayed there without moving an inch, except for the constant chill due to the cold temperature. Staring at the empty sea, she realized what troubles Fuyuki City will be facing for days to come.

The Holy Grail War.

Raising and slipping out her right hand from her sleeve, she saw a symbol composed of three parts. She recognized these as Commands Spells, a mark which signifies the person's participation in the said ritual.

"This wasn't supposed to happen, yet...Why?"

She whispered to herself, trying to reason out the possible reasons why she was in this dilemma.

She understood that the Master was considered by the Grail to be deemed worthy of their wishes to come into fruition.

"Why..."

But nothing came to mind. She had no desires that she wanted to come true, except maybe world peace. Or a bountiful life surrounded by many kinds of dishes.

Thinking about it again, maybe she did want a wish of hers granted, although she had no idea which one it was.

"Why me...?"

She had doubts regarding the prize of the ritual, and decided that she wouldn't rely on it.

If that was the case, what were her intentions for coming to Fuyuki City?

Realizing she was going to get left behind again, she sneaked out and followed her roommate, along with some other people she knew, to the airport. Changing out of her pin-filled habit, she rode to what was supposed to be the plane where the suspicious boy went into, only to find out too late that he wasn't inside the aerial transport once she arrived to this city.

Her arrival to Fuyuki City, for some reason, made Command Spells mysteriously appear on her right hand, accompanied with the loss of her belongings. With an empty wallet and a growling stomach, she was left to sleep on the very same park she was currently in.

This was what she was truly worried about in the first place: Sating her hunger.

"*sigh* Anyway, did his misfortune rub off on me? No, that's impossible...If so, why wasn't he on the plane?"

She speculated on possible reasons why the boy wasn't one of the plane's passengers. Considering his luck, it's possible he went out to check on something just before the doors closed. Another possibility would be that she rode the wrong plane. Or maybe, it might be something even more outrageous.

Blaming her misfortune to another person, especially **him,** who she engaged with it on a daily basis, wasn't nice of her. It had been more than half a year since they first met, but their relationship hadn't changed much. If described with a popular RPG term, her support with him didn't go up from Rank C to B.

If their relationship did level up in a way, it could be considered by others as her being his little sister, no pun intended.

"It's not like figuring that out would actually help me with my current situation though..."

She ran out of cellphone battery, making it useless for her to call someone. Then again, she ain't the master of the portable communication tech either. With no way to contact people she knew, Index got stranded in the city of Fuyuki.

"Also, there was that strange feeling from this morning..."

Alarming as it was, she was also targeted.

It happened while she looked around the residential area of the Miyama District. In the middle of crossing the street, negative feelings suddenly overcame her well-being, as if the person purposely gave out his or her presence. If the stalker did was intentional or not, she had no idea.

But that person was definitely after her. It could be the knowledge regarding the grimoires she had that might be the person's true objective. The only way she would know was through meeting the person.

Of course, she had the skills to protect herself. Confident that she could take down whoever that person was, as long as they're magicians, she went back and thought about her upcoming survival challenge in Fuyuki.

"Aaaaaah...Does that mean I'll be sleeping here again tonight?"

She fell sideways to the bench, anxiety and fatigue fell upon her.

"...I'm hungry...I haven't eaten since I arrived here..."

Loneliness.

To be honest, she got sort of fed up with it.

She had been used to it since her roommate would always disappear to somewhere she had no idea about, only to find out that the boy landed on the hospital again and again due to injuries that came from adventures untold.

"Touma...Come here already. Index is lost, you know..."

Whispering the person she wanted to see the most, she saw his face in her mind, thinking that he might come and help her. But...

"...No. This is something I brought upon myself. I should try to figure out for myself how to get back."

Regaining a bit of courage to move, she whispered this to herself as she shut her eyes for a short nap. Trying to reserve some energy, she finally decided that tonight may be the good time to visit the churches in the city.

She figured that there should at least be a church that would take her in, specifically those that belonged to the English Puritan Sect. She will ask for their help to get back to Academy City, so that she wouldn't get dragged in the upcoming conflict between Magicians and otherworldly beings.

As for how she's going to explain her sudden absence and arrival to Fuyuki City, she would have to deal with it when she gets questioned to that point.

Darkness fell and the bright, not so full moon ascended above the partly clouded sky, reflecting the wide river in front of her. The red bridge lit up brightly as it guided drivers from the dark. The number of people passing through drastically dropped, leaving her almost all alone in the park.

Another half an hour had passed and she woke up from her short slumber.

She had no idea what the exact current time was. She figured it was around early to mid-evening, based on the positioning of the stars in the sky. She stood up from the bench and looked around to confirm that she was alone.

No...

She wasn't entirely alone. She felt a presence coming to her right side, to where the bridge was. As the clap of those shoes got closer, she saw...

-0-

"Man! What a day! I wonder if Sakura and Fuji-nee are home already..."

Partly tired from his part-time work, Shirou Emiya said that to no one as he was on his way home, excited to see Sakura's dinner for tonight. He wanted to cook tonight but finished work late, as usual.

He was about to reach the other end of the bridge when he glanced to his right. He saw the moon illuminated over the dark, night sky, as if it was using stray clouds as its blanket. He leaned his arms on the railing and decided to take a short break, pondering on the things that happened earlier today.

First was that he fixed some of the cultural club's heaters as a request from the Student Council President, Issei Ryudou. There was also that lunch date with Shinji, as he gave him an advice to help him reconcile with another person and protect Sakura from abuse. And Luvia, who escorted him for the first time so that he wouldn't be late for work. There was also that small accident with her that he would rather forget.

He muttered under his breath the words he never expected to tell himself of all people regarding his current lifestyle.

"...A time where all of this would end, huh?"

Staring at the sea beyond, he wondered if normal days like these would continue, that there would come a time his normal daily, life would end.

' _If such a time comes and abruptly end my normal everyday life, what would I do at that situation?"_

Shirou already knew about the existence of Magic, a hidden element considered by the world as non-existent and abnormal. Him secretly training to become a Mage was not normal in itself, but it still became a part of his daily routine. In other words, Magic became a part of his normal life.

If so, thinking about it, was there something that existed which was more outrageous than Magic?

Would he consider that unknown element a thing that would end his normal everyday life?

"Aah...The breeze felt nice. The moon looked brighter than usual, too..."

He uttered these words with a distant look in his eyes, feeling rejuvenated for the first time in his life, while he watched the moon hide behind the blanket of clouds.

Shirou Emiya, a person who was more worried about the safety of other people than his own. This might be the last time he would feel such sense of liberty for himself.

"Ah! I got distracted! Better get going or they'll be worried!"

Surveying the seascape before leaving...

"...Huh?"

A spark of light appeared to the left of his scenery, where the riverside park was located. He recognized it as the kind of reaction made when metal made friction with another metal. He then noticed that some parts of the park were dark, making it harder to see. Staring closely with a rather confused expression, he suddenly saw a strange scene.

From far away, he can see, from under the spotlight of one of the lampposts, a silhouette of a person in white. There was another person facing the one in white.

That was when something happened that made him mobilize from his position.

"What's going on?! Hey, what the...Just, What the hell?!"

He quickly ran to the two's destination with a worried expression. He felt the need to stop the ongoing conflict.

Magic is a secret element in the world where a few people believe exist. The current society finding out about its existence will definitely cause an uproar. He had kept that fact from the people he knew so that they won't get dragged from the darkness contained in that world.

Sadly, he hadn't realized that not all Mages had the same idea as his, and he had to see it for himself. The worst part of it was that someone's using Magic to kill a person.

Even then, what he saw was not something akin to magic at all. It was a purely brutal attack that had a high chance of killing a person.

Shirou Emiya hurried, hoping he wasn't too late to save the person that received the heavy blow.

-0-

"Will you just die for me already, Forbidden Library? This is getting boring..."

The person Index faced was someone she did not expect at all.

For him to recognize her without her famed outfit, it's both amazing and frightening. That would mean there wass a way for him to identify her even with the most elaborate disguise.

A few minutes after waking up from her nap, the lack of people pretty much gave her the warning signals to notify her that she would be ambushed in the open. Lights started to flicker and die out, as the lampposts got sucked into some kind of vacuum hole that surrounded her attacker.

Fang-like cracks appeared around the Magician, around four to five in number. It might be possible that he could generate more, but she will have to last to see the person's full potential.

Identity still unknown, Index quickly analyzed the structure of her opponent's Magic and realized she can't defeat him with only her Spell Intercept. The same could be said to the enemy Magician, as his spell involved creating those fang-like cracks that can distort the flow of a spell's energy, making it useless, and absorb physical objects.

Someone like her who didn't have Mana couldn't invoke magic spells, thus assuming for their Magic battle to go into total stalemate.

However, her stamina greatly deteriorated due to the ordeal she had faced since her arrival in Fuyuki, making the situation disadvantageous to her in terms of physical condition.

Gasping for breath, she quickly countered each and every crack the enemy made to suck her like a black hole with a few cryptic sequence of words.

" _ **CATC! CCTTL! CCBM! CFC!**_ "

"Hey. Just give it up already and let me kill you. Make things easy for me, will you?"

But no matter how many times Index countered the spell, the cracks reappeared as if they didn't disappear in the first place.

The monotonous voice that originated from the young man went closer, baring his fangs and ready to devour his prey. His form was revealed under the illumination of the lamppost that was a few steps away from the one the nun stood under. His clothes looked appropriate for the winter season, a brown hoodie protecting him from the cold with both hands in his pockets. Without the hood, he appeared as a young man with white ruffled hair, with his upper left fang sneaking out of his mouth. He looked at her with a smug face, as he realized he was on the dominating side of the fight that was supposed to be a draw.

Cracks continuously appeared as he slowly approached the keeper of the 103,000 grimoires from around the world. She also continuously intercepted her enemy's spell by reciting a string of letters meant to shorten the invocation process.

With the vacuum that originated from the cracks, the surrounding lampposts started flying to the young magician's direction, crunched once the metal poles came into contact with it and closes.

Making sure to keep her distance, Index started to formulate plans to devolve the situation as quick as possible. There was a high chance of wandering citizens passing by the park since people pass through it to get to the bridge connecting the two districts.

And then she noticed something strange about the magician's movements.

' _He could have already taken advantage of the situation by dashing to my direction, yet he didn't do so. Was it the cracks he kept on creating? Was its only purpose to protect himself from incoming attacks by diverting the flow of Mana?'_

She also noticed how strong the cracks were when sucking in the things near it, with the gust of wind blowing to his direction. She can see how his feet were firmly planted on the ground as he slowly moved to her.

 _'Could the spell be the reason why he's constricted with his movements, as he's also affected?'_

Based on the current situation, she started to construct a counter measure to stop her attacker.

 _"Then I'll just have to run back to the residential district to keep him from using his Magic to a more public area!'_

That was until the man, whose plan she reserved for, suddenly stopped in his tracks. A question mark appeared above her head, keeping watch of the young man's movements.

"Now that I thought about, you have the ability to disrupt a spell's structure, right?"

"?"

And then the cracks disappeared after addressing this. If he knew the risk, what was the point of using his magic? Was he an idiot?

"If so, then I'll have to use my sharp claws to finish the job!"

"!"

He dashed to her direction without delay. Taking notice of him, She saw him pull out his hands from his pockets, adorned with a weapon.

Index saw him wearing some sort of gloves, with each finger acting as its claws. The materials for it was mostly made out of leather, the claw part was either from wolf claws or from wolf fangs, as she suspected that his magic involved the motif of a wolf character.

Even with the sharpness of her eyes, things happened so quickly once he was free of his movements. No words could describe how screwed Index was the moment he pulled out those claws.

With no way to defend herself, she blindly received his attack head on.

"...Ah..."

Something stabbed her stomach. Looking below, she saw the man's claws as it dug into her abdominal area. After seeing the wound was when the pain started to register in her mind.

Sadly, even the privilege of screaming in pain was robbed away from her, as she was thrown aside by the river. She hit her nape on the railing, causing her to nearly pass out.

Clutching on to the railings for dear life, she supported herself, wobbling as she used the last of her strength to stand. She gasped for breath, trying to gain her bearings to where the young man was, only to be answered with a choke to the neck. His grip was strong it almost broke her neck.

"With this, I finally got part of my revenge against Othinus."

"...So...you really were..."

Without much of a second thought, Index was thrown to the icy cold river.

She felt her body sink slowly to the depths of the Mion River, with possibly no chances of survival.

Slowly running out of breath, Index muttered the name of the person she wanted to see the most as her sight started to fade to darkness.

" _Tou...ma..."_

* * *

 **Between The Lines 1**

Somewhere in the Miyama district of Fuyuki City, there stood two figures who had the same colors for their eyes and hair.

With the exception of height and bodily condition, the boy leaned both his back and his crutch on an electric post, nodding off as he felt sleepy. His female companion on the other hand stood patiently in the middle of the narrow road, expecting a certain passerby.

As much as the albino boy wanted to ditch the girl he considered his Master here and now, he will surely get an earful from the maid back in the castle if she found out the girl was left behind by her very own Servant in the middle of the urban jungle known as the residential district of the city during the cold, winter night of February.

For the 'young', silver-haired girl on the other hand, she was rather excited to finally see one of the people that caused her grief, even though she only planned to give him a warning tonight and quickly leave after everything was said and done.

And so they waited for the boy...

And still waited even further...

Time passed, and they still waited, except for the boy that started to snooze, as if he thought to himself 'Fuck this, I'm going to sleep.'

Minutes and seconds passed until the girl eventually snapped out of her anticipation and swapped it with irritation.

"GAH! He's supposed to be here by now! What's taking him so long?!"

Stomping her feet as she shook her body from rage, Illyasviel von Einzbern had reached the limit of her patience. Accelerator snapped out of his short nap, groaning as he saw the smaller girl's fit of rage.

"..."

"Here I am, lying in wait as I was about to do a warning introduction so mysterious, he'll think, 'Oooh...What does she ever mean by summon my servant soon?' Accompanied with a poor excuse of a confused expression because his long, lost, older sister, to which he had no idea existed, disappeared before he could get his much awaited answers... And this is what I get?! Wasn't this his usual route?! In fact, this road leads to his home! I never thought he would be THIS late! Maybe I should have killed him while he was at home sleeping...Those days of surveillance was such a waste..."

Accelerator facepalmed at the sight of his Master going around complaining about her plan to intimidate their- no- her target, Shirou Emiya.

He had no beef whatsoever with the clueless boy and the accidental contract between the two of them only involved him protecting the brat. In short, he was supposed to be unrelated to this mess called the Holy Grail War and to whatever shit that was about to go down in the city.

He did wonder what this Emiya person did to deserve such hatred from the rather psychotic brat that stood in front of him.

Even then, he couldn't escape the situation because the contract was already established and all he could do was to follow whatever the brat ordered him to do.

How they ended up in this situation lay within the string of events that happened two months ago, starting with key event which would then be known as the first contact between Accelerator and Illyasviel von Einzbern.

Remembering their meeting made him cringe and made him initiate a conversation with Illya as a distraction.

Approaching the girl that finally calmed down, without moving his lips, a robotic voice leaked out from his thought translator, a feature added to his choker due to the loss of his ability to speak human language as a result of him becoming the Servant Berserker.

 _ **"Done with your rant, little miss brat?"**_

Turning her sights to the anemic-looking boy, Illya couldn't get used to the lifeless and static sound the contraption around his neck produced. Not that his gruff and incomprehensible voice actually sounded any better.

"So what if I am? It's not like you did anything to stop me, you useless Esper. Also you started calling me brat again."

 _ **"Yeah, yeah, the most powerful Esper is the most useless Servant, yada yada yada."**_

"Are you mocking me again, Berserker?! GAH! First him, now you!"

Leaning on his crutch, the white-haired teen gave the young girl a smug look. Illya seeing his expression just added fuel to the fire.

 _ **"Was there any need for you to do this childish introduction?"**_

"I already told you that this is to establish my character for him. I would be the mysterious little girl who left him a vague message, which will then be a key element to actually make him summon his Servant."

 _ **"And yet that boy didn't even give you a chance to introduce yourself?"**_

"...Well..."

Illya turned silent after she heard this from the boy, who then sighed and raised his left shoulder, accompanied with a side head shake, as if saying no.

 _ **"Situations like these are bound to happen, you know? Heck, It's actually funny to see this petty plan of yours go down the drain."**_

"So you're telling me that this was bound to fail in the first place?"

 _ **"Not exactly."**_

After she heard him say this, a blank expression suddenly surfaced on the boy's face as he turned to a certain direction. The girl also faced to the same direction and that was then she finally noticed it.

"...There's a faint trace of Mana leaking to that direction...! You don't mean...!"

 _ **"I felt small tremors while you were yapping. Let's just say it could be related to the reason your boy's not here yet when he's supposed to be."**_

"Eh?! When did you-"

She then saw that the small light from the boy's choker-styled electrode was green, meaning he was using his ability, making it possible for him to discern the tremors he mentioned.

"...Hey, how much time had passed since you used your abilities?"

 ** _'If you're curious, this was on since we came to this street. Now that I thought about it, It had only been 15 minutes before you-"_**

"You wasted 50% worth of battery?! Why did you do that without my permission?!"

 _ **"Do you really think this is the right time to argue about using my powers?"**_

At that moment, not a single word was shared between the two of them. It had always been like this ever since they met. Illya would always mock him and Accelerator would find a way to return the favor. A possibly never ending cycle of mockery existed between the two of them.

But...

Sighing in exasperation, Illya went to the boy and tugged his long sleeve. The action could only mean one thing for the albino teen.

"...Let's go, Accelerator. If this is related to that boy, then we have no time to lose. There are things I needed to do that involved him."

 _ **"...As you wish, Miss Illya."**_

Accelerator carried Illya and started to leap from one roof to another, heading to the destination where Shirou Emiya might have been involved.

Unlike their banter earlier, these statements sounded more sincere than sarcastic. True, these two's relationship only involved mockery and insults for each other. But when the going gets tough, they might be the most formidable duo the world will ever face.

The Strongest Servant and possibly the Most Powerful Master of the Holy Grail War now joined the fray.

 _ **"I gotta ask though, why are you so obsessed with that kid? You like him or something?"**_

"Less talking, more jumping."

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The End of Daily Life**

* * *

A/N: So how'd you find this chapter? This time, unlike the original, the events started three days before the supposed summoning of Saber. Remember that even if some elements from the original still remained and was ported to this rewrite, this is a new story altogether. With that, I'm sorry for jumping to a rewrite and not finishing what I started.

Some people may wonder that there are things that may seem out of place for a TAMNI/ F/SN-centric canon. I'll have to apologize for these changes, deliberate or not.

For the POV, I'm trying to make it obvious that this is in the format of 3rd person limited , mostly Shirou's, as the story will mostly, but not exclusively, revolve around him.

And finally, I'm sorry, but will it be possible if anyone can become my Beta-Reader? Not that I'm desperate, but I need someone to check on my work before I release it.

Speaking of beta, I also apologize if there are discrepancies and grammar errors for this and future chapters.

Anyway, R&R and see you guys on the next update!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: TAMNI And F/SN belongs to their respective creators, Kamachi Kazuma and Type-Moon.**

* * *

 **Part 1**

Some things in life can never be truly explained in a proper and believable manner. To see is to believe, as some people would say.

An especially weird event can be explained and interpreted in many different ways. For the most part, the only accepted truth received by most people is shown through the mass media. Of course, some people are doubtful of such information and they end up trying to dig deeper to discover the conspiracies hidden within the confines of the mysterious phenomenon called life.

This, at some point in time, helped people discover the other sides of the world.

The world has two sides, although the other side is a secret to most in the modern society. Both sides can have an explanation to a certain event, albeit having different views in the said incident.

Science and Religion.

An example of an event would be the more controversial topic regarding the creation of the universe.

For Science, they have the Big Bang Theory and String Theory, accompanied with the most logical cause and effect relationship in explaining these events.

For Religion, they have the many Mythologies and Sacred Texts to support their claims, with their story of powerful gods and goddesses behind the creation of the world.

For this and other reasons, Science and Religion had engaged in conflicts on many areas and, since then, they tried to level up the playing field against each other, with the advancement of knowledge through research for both sides.

These two sides of the world are currently living in neutrality to each other, but of course conflicts do not end that easily.

Most people would lean to the former than the latter since it is the most observed phenomenon.

People are most aware of the Scientific side of the world, as its technology helped in the advancement of Mankind, the fruit of its discoveries seen to most people in the world.

But there is only one place in the world that had the study of Science gone to the full extreme, thought to be unnatural in today's modern world standards of normalcy.

As a result of one person's decision, Academy City became the current forerunner to the latest in technological advancement. Anything that could be imagined in a sci-fi novel may have been invented already, with their top-notch scientists and researchers.

The city is known for its two programs: First-Class Education and the Power Development Curriculum Program.

Students who studied under the Power Development Curriculum Program became known to the world as Espers, one of Academy City's fruits that they bore and their greatest achievement to their research regarding Personal Reality. As ability-users undertaking the program, the students get educated on how to use their newly discovered powers and develop it to get stronger, thus gaining a higher level in Academy City Standards.

As of the moment, the technology behind the creation of Espers is highly classified and exclusive to Academy City.

Even if that was the case, the Religious side of the world also had a so-called secret weapon, and only a few people can practice the art.

Magic.

It had long existed before the development of Science, and thus had a greater influence to more people. Mythologies, Legends, Relics, Folklore and other Occult and Supernatural phenomenon were thought to be the proof if its existence.

Of course, modern civilization that was dominated by scientific knowledge did not acknowledge the existence of Magic itself, as they were merely "make-believe".

The Magic side is to be divided into many branches, with many a different methods of its usage and knowledge.

One of the well-known theories of Magic is called the "Magecraft Theory", formed by people who are called Mages.

Britain is one of the many countries known for its occultism, and thus became one of the central points of Magecraft studies, specifically in England.

It is believed that only a few and distinguished families that knew of the existence of Magic could pass down their accumulated knowledge to their descendants. These descendants have their affinity in Magic honed by having them study at the Clocktower in London. It is one of the three branches of the Mage's Association, the leading Magic-Based Organizations in Mystical Research, Training, and Peacekeepers of the Magic side. The other branches are Atlas, stationed in Egypt, and the Sea of Estray in Northern Europe.

Even if that was the case, that did not mean those who were not part of those privileged does not have the means to study Magic.

Everyone, maybe everything that is considered alive in the world, contain within them "Mana", the so-called fuel or power source that help a person activate most spells, enabling them to use Magic. Because they have Mana, it can be said that all people can use Magic, the problem being that it is a secret.

The truth of the matter is that most people **have** access to Magic. They just need to learn how to take control of it.

Religious groups such as the English Puritans Sect, also located in England, and the Roman Catholic Church, its headquarters in the Vatican, are also groups to which they use Magic to protect the people from threats deemed as part of the supernatural. It is much like that one division of the Mage's Association that consisted of Enforcers that deal with Sealing Designations.

The former had the organization within that was called Necessarius and their methods are known for beating fire with fire, such was the namesake of the group, using magic as a "Necessary" means to fight the same kind.

The latter had the God's Right Seat, although they had already disbanded after World War III, and the Burial Agency, a group of Heretic Hunters to which only operates at certain conditions.

At this point, it could be said that these two sides are considered part of the "Supernatural World", not the modern world, to which mostly consisted of politics, economy, and other world branches known to most of mankind.

Not known to most people, these two sides play a role in the modern world. It is the manipulation of information concerning supernatural events, so that the existence and research of both sides would remain a secret.

Earlier, it was mentioned that there are two sides currently existing within the modern world.

In reality, there is actually a third one, to which most of the people in the world belong to.

It is called the Ignorant side of the world.

This is the so-called Modern world where people live life in blissful ignorance, unaware of the secret conflicts between Science and Religion(Magic).

Largely oblivious to the existence of the first two's secrets, the Ignorant side is mostly based on the person's awareness to their world. It is not exactly a side. Rather, it is one person's belief system. Once they acknowledge something, they are not part of the Ignorant side any more.

Specifically, once they acknowledge the secret of the two conflicting sides of the world.

In short, people leave the Ignorant Side of the world once they decide for themselves whether to believe or not, to which they would remain "Ignorant".

Now, some of you may be wondering: What happens when the three sides of the world ever meet face-to-face?

Well...

"Shirouuuu! Where have you been?! I was-"

"ACHOOO! *sniff* Brrr!...F-Fuji-nee?...I t-thought y-you w-went ho-ho-...ACHOOO!"

"Why did you run out of battery now, of all times?! How are we going to get home, you dolt?!"

 ** _"...Ksssh..."_**

"...Cold..."

"...Eh? What's going on, Shirou?! Who are these people?! "

On one hand we have Taiga Fujimura who, after accompanying Sakura Matou back to her home, went back to the Emiya Residence.

The other was the highschool student who lived in it, Shirou Emiya, dripping wet and sneezing like there's no tomorrow.

Near him was white haired teenage boy who held a crutch with his right hand, Accelerator, fully collapsed on the floor with no signs of waking up.

On top of the poor soul was a silver haired, little girl who should be sleeping at this time of the night, Illyasviel von Einzbern, furiously shaking the seemingly unconscious teen on his collar as she shouted curses and slapped him crazy on his face.

And lastly, a silver-haired girl who quietly muttered as she was soundly asleep on the red-headed boy's back, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, covered with the boy's dry winter coat meant to protect her from the cold.

Now, everything explained above, that entire info dump earlier, referred to the amalgamation of the three sides of the world as they all gathered in one place.

On one side we have the Ignorant Taiga Fujimura, the other was the Scientific Accelerator, and the other three people from the Magic side, the Half-Homunculus Einzbern, The Magic-User Emiya, and the Religious Index of the Forbidden Library.

So how did this five people, belonging from the three different sides of the world, got caught up in such an absurd yet fateful encounter?

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Three Sides of the World**

* * *

 **Part 2**

Earlier...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Screaming for dear life, Shirou Emiya fell off the bridge.

Actually, he decided to leap off of it.

No, he wasn't committing suicide or the like.

He thought that that was the only way to quickly reach the person who was thrown aside like garbage into the river.

Seeing the bloody stab stirred him into action. He thought that the fastest way to reach them was by dangerously jumping down the bridge, but thought otherwise.

First off, he was sane to not do so.

Second, he thought he would die before he could reach the poor soul.

He is human after all.

With that line of thought, running all the way to the park was the only sensible action he had to take to make it possible for him to be there in time.

There was a flaw to such actions.

He thought that the offender would leave the body behind afterwards, thus giving him time to apply first aid and call in an ambulance to treat the patient to the hospital.

Of course that was until he saw the victim's body thrown and fell to the ice-cold Mion river.

If he continued to run to their destination as he was, it would be too late for him, as the victim's body would only be swept away to where the bridge's light wouldn't reach the person, slowly sinking to death as he/she slowly drowned.

Leaving his schoolbag and quickly removing his winter coat, he jumped off the bridge out of instinct, not knowing that he would receive a whole lot of pain once he dived into the water. As the kind of person who would do save someone even at the cost of his life, it was a risk he had taken.

And so we return to the part where he had made contact with the river's flat surface, creating quite the loud impact.

It took him a few seconds before he completely resurfaced. Despite the searing pain his body felt from the fall, Shirou quickly swam to where the person in white was, slowly sinking to the depths of the river. It was a good thing the river was calm and that the person's body didn't get swept away so fast.

With no time to lose, Shirou breathe in a lot of air before diving. What he saw next was a rather captivating sight.

He saw a girl whose silver hair still reflected the moonlight and the bridge's light seeping through the darkness of the river. Her right hand reached out to the surface of the water, as if calling out someone to save her. With a few bubbles coming out of her slightly open lips, it was evident that she's running out of air.

If it weren't for the trail of blood caused by the deep wound on her stomach, the scene would have been more beautiful than it was.

He swam to her and pulled her by her hand. Placing her right arm above his shoulders, he rose back to the surface of the river in haste. Dizzy and quickly gasping for oxygen, he carried the unconscious girl as he tried to swim to the nearest shallow riverbank.

Sadly, starting at this point in time, the fruits of Shirou Emiya's labor and deed will be deemed fruitless.

Supporting the girl so that she wouldn't sink the second time, he didn't account into his rescue plan the main culprit of it all.

"Well, what do we have here? For a minute, I thought you committed suicide back there."

Shirou heard the voice of the devil.

"What do you think you're doing? That's unnecessary, you know?"

He felt the cold wind blowing to where the voice originated. Behind the fence was a young man with white ruffled hair, resting his arms above the metal railing as he leaned to look at him. Equipped in both hands was the claw weapons he used to hurt the girl, the left one covered with her blood. And in front of the young man was a fang-like crack that was slowly dipped into the river, causing the phenomenon of changing the direction of the wind.

Seeing the person's magic really close made him feel like he was being pulled out of the water, like how a tornado could pull out stuff from the ground up.

Scratch that, him and the girl really **were** being sucked into that black void.

 _'Damn, I forgot about him?!'_

Wildly splashing his free arm, Shirou tried to swim further away from the Mage, albeit useless as he drew even closer to him.

"Let go of the girl. I need her dead."

Looking back, he saw the Mage's flat expression on his face, contradictory to his killer stare that bore through all of his being. He also saw the fang-like crack, absorbing the river water as it continually bit it, as it threatened him to swallow him whole if he didn't cooperate.

"Bwah! You! Stop this instant! Don't you realize what you're doing?!"

"Why would I follow your orders, meddler? I'm in a hurry. She's the only one I need dead. Let go of her or you die too."

"Why go so far?! What exactly are you planning?! Why this girl?!"

"I take that as a no? So be it. As much as your death's unnecessary, you gave me no other choice. Die."

"You-Bwah!"

The two were quickly being carried by the current due to the mysterious Mage's spell. Nearing the black fangs of doom, Shirou saw that it was pointless for him to barge into this mess. Everything he did, all that training just so one day he could save a life...

Useless.

He was about to be devoured by that black hole, along with the heavily injured girl who spurred him into action.

Despite the reality of his situation, he felt no regret with what he did as of this point. It was a decision he had to make, believing that it would succeed.

He took into action the ideal he had always believed in. The ideal he had saw as something beautiful. The ideal he won't be able to act upon once he falls to this person's bloody spell.

The same bloody spell that was about to kill him but didn't reach him as he flew out of the water.

"*Cough* *Cough* ...W-what?"

"*Sigh* More meddlers, huh?"

Something grabbed both Shirou and the girl in white on their back collars and pulled them out of the water. Peeking behind, he saw a giant hawk structured in some sort of thin wires, flapping their wings as they slowly made their descent on the hard concrete. Lying flat on the cold floor, he coughed out the water clogging his throat and quickly caught sight of the people who saved them, their backs turned at him.

"*Sigh* Seriously, I haven't introduced myself, and yet you involved yourself in something this petty, almost killing you? What will happen to my speech if you didn't even get to hear it, Onii-chan?"

 ** _"That ain't a speech if it's only nine words, Brat."_**

A girl of elementary stature, adorned in a purple coat and a tall fur hat, stood in front of him. Just like the girl he tried to save, she also had long, silver hair that reached up to her waist.

The second was a boy that could be classified to the same age group as him, supporting himself with a crutch as he stood beside his short companion. He also sported a hair color as blank as the the two girls, matching it with his winter jacket and pants. Unlike the girl who sounded like her age, the teen had a cold, robotic voice that originated from his choker. He thought that it was some kind of high-tech device enabling him to speak.

Speaking of which, Shirou looked behind and his gaze fell upon the girl he had tried to save, still unconscious and bleeding.

"Ah! We have to treat her wounds, quick!"

The two white-haired duo took a glance at his current dilemma, wondering if they should help or not.

"...Hm? What's wrong, Berserker? You know her?"

 ** _"...That damn hero, what the hell is he doing?"_**

The way the albino spoke made it seem like he knew the wounded victim.

Purely focused on treating the girl, Shirou ripped his long, left sleeve, exposing skin up to the shoulder, and wrung it dry. He then wrapped it around the girl's stomach as a means of preventing more loss of blood.

He then gave her the breath of life, also known as CPR.

All of this as the newcomer duo, with the exception of the person in the crutch who only took a quick glance, watched his technique.

"H-hey, B-berserker. H-he's k-kissing h-her. I-isn't that h-harassment?"

 ** _"That's nothing to worry about. That's actually necessary to push the water out of her body, so let him be."_**

"Nothing to worry about?!"

Pushing out the words the two in front of him passed on to each other (especially the kissing one), Shirou ignored them and continued to breathe into the girl's mouth until she finally coughed out the foreign liquid, along with a bit of red. She still remained unconscious even after all the effort he took.

 ** _"Now, the real issue here is..."_**

Ignoring the people behind him, the newly identified Berserker gazed upon the threat the red-head had faced earlier, the Mage with the ability to call upon the black cracks.

"So, are you also here with the same intentions as that poor excuse of a hero there?"

 ** _"Don't get the wrong idea. You just tried to kill the person we were supposed to meet. Not only that. As a poor excuse of a villain, you tried to prey on a weak, little girl like her. Aren't you a least bit ashamed, you mangy mutt?"_**

"None of your business, grandpa. Those who oppose me will get the fangs."

 ** _"Heh, do whatever you want. I'm pretty sure those so-called fangs won't reach me anyway."_**

The young man across them drew out his claws again, in preparation to face the cripple. In response, the disabled boy reached for his choker-styled device on his neck and activated it with a beeping sound. Returning to the three behind him, Berserker knelt in front of the girl lying on the concrete, slipped down the make-shift bandage and dipped his finger on her bloody wound.

"H-hey, what are you doing?! You're infecting the wound!"

 ** _"This is the only way to preserve her blood, and I need to have a connection with her blood flow to do so."_**

"But your hands-"

 ** _"They became clean the moment I turned this on. Just stop whining. I'm helping your friend here, ain't I?"_**

Shirou couldn't comprehend the albino's thoughts and that he referred to his ability as some sort of blood control. In fact, there was no way to know if he could trust these people either. They just came out of nowhere, with the pretense of stopping the Mage who tried to kill him earlier.

What exactly were these two aiming for?

It took a few seconds, but the crippled albino finally pulled out his finger. The weird thing that Shirou saw was that there was no trace of blood on the boy's finger.

He then supported his stance with his trusty crutch and gave his partner a command of sorts.

 ** _"Heal the girl. I've made sure to stop the bleeding, so close the wound. This won't take long."_**

"I'm the master in this relationship, you know! Just make sure to not waste too much time!"

 ** _"Just who do you think I am?"_**

With those words, the crippled albino trudged to his opponent's direction.

"H-Hey, wait! You're going to fight in that condition?! Maybe I shoul-"

 ** _"Stay out of this, kid. This is a fight you won't win no matter what."_**

"That's my line, you idiot!"

Without returning his gaze, Berserker continued to faced the enemy head-on. Shirou couldn't let this guy fight the Mage head-on, disabled or not.

He knew that, but there was something about what the boy did earlier that didn't make sense. Was that Magic? All he did was turn on the device strapped to his neck and did his blood manipulation thing.

 ** _"Besides, it's your job to protect that girl now."_**

"W-what?"

"Let him be, Onii-chan."

The silver-haired companion spoke in defense to her partner as she prepared to treat the wounded girl through the use of Magecraft.

"He may appear weak to most people. But, I can vouch for his strength. There's a saying that you don't judge a book by its cover, correct? He's in the same category."

The little girl, who he had now identified as another Mage, looked at him -no- at her partner behind him with a reassuring smile.

"After all, he is the _Strongest Esper of Academy City_. _The Strongest Servant I, Illyasviel von Einzbern, have summoned_."

"Esper...?"

Returning his gaze on the albino was when he saw him walking on two legs, without the support of the crutch that was currently a few feet away. With both hands on his pockets, he paused a few meters away from the enemy, who had activated his black hole spell with a chant.

" **The devourer of Odin, The wolf who swallowed the arm of Tyr. Let thy fangs open up once more. Be released from the chains of Gleipnir. Wreak havoc, the key to begin Ragnarok!** _"_

Berseker then spoke with his monotonous voice.

 ** _"Your Orders, Illya."_**

The girl that was now identified as Illya wore a suspicious smirk filled with innocence, as she stood up beside her unconscious patient. She held out her hand and spoke words that wouldn't fit a young girl.

" _Heh. Kill him, Berserker._ "

All hell broke loose with the mention of those three words alone.

-0-

Fenrir was considered to be the most infamous of all the wolves present in Norse Mythology, known to be the one who will devour the head god Odin and the one who Tyr, the one-armed God, faced during the course of Ragnarok, the felling of the gods. Fenrir was raised in Asgard, the abode of the Aesirs, as a means to prevent the wolf from wreaking havoc in the nine worlds.

The most famous account regarding the great wolf was his binding with the unbreakable golden chains made by the dwarves, Gleipnier. The events resulted with the loss of Tyr's arm and the wolf being bound to a boulder, his jaws held open with a sword as he drooled saliva out of it, thus creating the river known as Ván, translated as "Expectation" _._

There was other accounts to which the identity of the wolves from the poetic eddas possibly referred to Fenrir. Sköll is a wolf, whose reserved duty was to to swallow the sun during Ragnarok. Another was Garmr, whose chains were broken at the course of the felling of the gods. Mánagarmr, also known as Háti, was a wolf who ate the moon in the same event.

In all of these accounts, Fenrir could be associated with the term "Destruction".

The Magician Fenrir used these accounts to gain access and possibly create one of the most destructive spells in the world of Magic.

But destruction is also one of the key elements behind the #1 Esper's ability.

To which will bring us the question: Whose "Destruction" will overwhelm the other?

* * *

 **Part 3**

"Geez! What's Shirou taking so long for?! He should have been here by now..."

"I-I'm sure he's on his way home now, Fujimura-sensei. We should just wait a little more..."

Taiga Fujimura went rolling on the floor, irritated that the teen she was taking care of, Shirou Emiya, hadn't come home from his part-time job. Sakura Matou was behind the kitchen counter, putting in the final touches for that night's dinner.

All that was left was for the Master of the traditional-styled mansion to finally step inside his own home and have dinner with them.

Taiga Fujimura is Shirou Emiya's current guardian that had been visiting the household ever since he met her. Every time Kiritsugu, Shirou's father, would leave for one of his trips, she would be Shirou's acting guardian, although their roles always get to be the reverse. With her light-brown, shoulder-length hair accompanied with her signature yellow-striped blouse, she was the most hyperactive adult he had ever met in his life, maybe even all over Fuyuki. She taught English to the students of Homurabara Academy. Her students would call her "Taiga" as her nickname that, when pronounced, sounded like "Tiger" and she would even act like one at some times.

It's really hard to imagine that such a hyperactive, English teacher was the granddaughter of the head of a Yakuza family.

Fujimura rolling on the floor may be her way to hold in her hunger. Sadly, that proved to be ineffective as she slowly crept her way to where the purple haired girl was, carrying plates with their main dish and rice bowls for the three of them.

"Ne, Sakura? Can't we just eat first before Shirou comes in? I'm really starving~"

"Sensei, we should wait for Senpai! It's best if everyone can eat together at the same time!"

She almost dropped her load since the teacher sprung in front of her, but managed to put everything in balance. Sakura went around her and lightly placed their dinner on top of the dining table. Satisfied that everything was in order, she sat at her usual seat, the one near the kitchen, and at the same time keeping a good watch on the hungry tiger that was the drooling teacher to her right.

"Can we-"

"No, Sensei."

"You didn't let me finish, Sakura!"

"Let's just put our faith in Senpai and wait for him, okay?"

"...Fine." The pouting tiger had been tamed for a short while. On her mind, she wished for Shirou to be by their side already so that she could have her most awaited dinner.

The TV on the other side of the room was on, the weather girl reporting the forecast for the next three days. Afterwards, news regarding Academy City was shown, explaining that some of its schools will have a Nationwide Field Trip in some parts of the country.

"Hm? Speaking of Academy City, wasn't Kuzuki-Sensei transferred to one of city's schools?"

Sakura remembered the day it was announced that Homurabara's Ethics and History Teacher, Souichirou Kuzuki, was called by a representative from the well-known city to work for one of its schools. The reasons were vague since it was between the teacher and the representative, but it seemed like the male teacher accepted the offer.

It had been a more than a month since he left Fuyuki City and migrated to the City of Science.

"Well, we haven't heard anything from him ever since he left…I wonder what he did so that he could enter that futuristic city. Must be nice!~"

"It could be that he is good in what he teaches?"

"And I'm not?! That's mean, Sakura! If that was the case, I should have been working in Academy City right now! Gah! Now I feel jealous!"

The English teacher rolled on the floor for the third, this time due to irritation and a hint of jealousy.

But still, why would Academy City hire a small town teacher to attend to their needs for educators? Fuyuki was just another city like any other place in Japan, filled with random people who live to fulfill their daily needs.

Fujimura thought that Academy City could be compared to heaven for educators like her.

And then her stomach gurgled for the nth time.

"Alright that's it!, I'm calling Shirou! Students like him shouldn't be out this late, part-time work or not!"

Fujimura snatched her cellphone from her pocket and began dialling the number of the red-headed teen.

"Eh?! But Senpai doesn't have a cellphone...does he?"

"I bought one for the caveman that is Shirou. Keeping a constant connection with someone is important, especially in the age we're living in now!"

"I-is that so... But if Senpai doesn't answer, what will you do?"

Without further delay, the energetic tiger placed the cellphone to her ear, waiting for the other line to connect. Suddenly, a rather disturbing, god awful, high-pitched singing voice reverberated throughout the living room/dining area, as if singing a song from a currently running anime. The lyrics kept on repeating the word 'white', for some reason.

A little panicked over the noise, the two looked around and found the source of it.

It was a small, rectangular device placed beside the television set.

It was Shirou's cellphone.

"...Senpai left the phone you gave him."

"I know. I can see that."

"..."

"..."

Both girls still staring at the forgotten device, Sakura tried to call Taiga's attention, a suspicious glare landed on the older woman.

"Um...Sensei? I think I have an idea as to why Senpai left his phone."

"I-is that so? D-do tell me, Sakura."

"That voice used for the cell's ringtone just now...Was that you singing? Why would he set his ringtone that way? Unless..."

"...O-oh right. No wonder that voice sounded familiar. Now that I thought about, I remember changing his phone's ringtone before giving it to him out of boredom...Ahahaha..."

Taiga tried her best to not look at Sakura's direction, fearing that a lion would maul her once she does.

Since it was Shirou's first time receiving a rather elaborate device, filled with both useful and unnecessary applications, he had no idea how to fully operate a cellphone, with the exception of making calls. The first time someone called him, the poor excuse of a singer that was used as his ringtone suddenly screamed her lyrics, garnering the attention of people around the poor teen.

With no knowledge on how to change the ringtone back, he left the communication device at home, possibly disliking the idea of being called in the open with his caretaker's glass-breaking voice for the next time it does.

Picking up Shirou's cell, Taiga opened it with a flip, went to the settings menu, and brought the ringtone back to its normal, humming noise. She then returned to her seat at the table, doing her best to avoid Sakura's sharp glare at her.

For some reason, she could visualize some sort of black aura coming out of the younger girl.

Of course Taiga knew what she did was wrong. The worst part was that she forgot about the little prank.

"Sensei, please stop bullying Senpai. You just made it harder for for us to contact him. Please reflect on all of the mistakes you have done to Senpai."

With Sakura's manner of speech, it made her sound like a parent parent about to ground her kid. For Taiga however, she felt a bit of shame, as she felt that their roles were reversed. Of course there's only one thing she could do.

She knelt down with her head on the floor.

"I'm sorry! I will reflect on all the mistakes I have done to Shirou! In addition, I will start to act like an adult and ask Shirou for forgiveness once he comes home!"

Seeing this, Sakura's gaze did a 180 in terms of aura and expression as it took on a calm demeanor, to which Taiga was what she wanted to see the most.

"...That's a good start, Sensei."

"But..."

"?"

Rising from her apologetic position, Taiga addressed the one thing she had been dreading to do since the start of their conversation.

"Since we can't contact Shirou, wouldn't it be best if we eat dinner now? You'll also need to get home early to, you know?"

As much as they want to wait for Shirou and eat like a happy family, not only was it getting late at night, but there was also the concern with the Matou family's curfew. The only thing they could do was to continue dinner without the boy.

"...I-I suppose so...I guess I'll have to keep Senpai's share then."

"Then...Thank you for the foooooooood~!"

"Sensei, leave some for Senpai!"

With that, the two continued to have their dinner, with the absence of the house's master. They could only wonder what exactly was taking the red headed boy's time to return home.

* * *

 **Part 4**

"W-whoa..."

The montage Shirou currently watched could be compared to a Hollywood movie.

Berseker, who he thought was a handicapped person, was meeting the other Mage's attacks with ease. In fact, he was overwhelming his opponent, who he thought was the most threatening when he almost died from the Mage's spell.

It started a mere few seconds ago, with a quick flash of light that originated from the albino, specifically the white wings that sprouted on his back. With an additional halo above the boy's head, he could surmise what kind of being this person was, although he could be wrong on that account.

Taking flight, Berserker charged at the enemy Mage head-on, whose defense mostly consisted of the crack spells he conjured to surround him. Even if that was case, he flew forward but not at the person itself.

Berserker crashed landed right in front of the Mage, causing him to not only leave a crater below him, but also initiated a seismic tremor, making his opponent lose his balance.

"Tch! **Close Gap! Accelerate!**"

Uttering these words, the Mage dispelled the cracks and leapt back, with both claws at the ready. With one step, he quickly appeared in front of Berseker and slashed his face off with his right.

That was a mistake.

With no resistance, Berserker let the claw hit him, with a rather gruesome result.

Not a single scratch appeared on the albino's face. Instead, the Mage took the brunt of his own attack, as it reflected back to him, and left him with a broken right arm.

Stunned by these results, he was then hit by one of Berserker's wings and slammed him to the railings.

" **Bite, Jaws of the Great Wolf!** "

Not giving him a chance to take Berserker's hit for the second time, the Mage did a dodge roll and recited his spell, a crack appearing in front of him and swallowing the oncoming wing stab to bite it off its owner. Said owner didn't flinch and continued his wing onslaught, countered by the Mage with also continuously spamming his spell to meet the attack.

 ** _"Hmph. You wasted your chance to escape me, Magician."_**

Slightly annoyed by this tactic, all Berserker did to finish the fight was to slam his right palm, his opponent launched up to the air which caused the cracks to disappear again. The albino then jumped to meet with the Mage mid-air and planted a heel kick to his gut, crashing down the concrete with pretty much broken bones.

The fight didn't even exceed a minute and this is how much destruction that handicapped albino wrought to his surroundings? Only one word appeared inside Shirou's head to describe this person.

Monster.

Unlike the angelic appearance he had displayed, he showed no mercy with the way he fought his opponent. He was not a divine being. Berserker could only be classified as a blood-thirsty demon.

"Well that ended quickly as I had expected."

Shirou looked back at Illya, still in the middle of closing up the unfortunate girl's wound.

"There really was no point to us waiting for him."

He thought that this young girl was no ordinary kid. She had just seen a scene of carnage and didn't even flinch at the sight of blood. Illya looked like she was so used to these things that Shirou found it both amazing and disturbing.

"Just...who are you people?"

"Hm? Well...I'm not really sure, but for now, just call us your 'saviors'."

"Uh-huh..."

Shirou felt uneasy. He already had his suspicions with these two, but hearing the word saviour didn't seem right.

He looked back at Berserker, the older boy stood near the defeated Mage that could be described as barely alive and still breathing. But for someone who just lost, his face held a composed and cool demeanor, much like how he and girl were attacked by before all this happened.

Seeing that expression made it felt wrong for the current atmosphere.

Shirou then saw Berserker as he lightly tapped his right foot on the ground, a large chunk of the concrete floor lifting itself from the ground and caught it with his right hand.

"H-hey, what is he planning to do? Can't he see that the fights already over? That Mage can't fight anymore!"

He exclaimed as he looked back at the young girl who had just finished healing the girl's wound.

"What do you mean? He's just following my orders."

"What? Wait, you can't mean...?!"

" _Did you miss the part when I told Berserker to **kill** that man?_ "

"Y-you can't be serious..."

Homicide.

That was the same thing that happened earlier, albeit turned attempted due to his interference. Now, Shirou was about to witness a second attempt that will more likely be successful. As much as he wanted to punch the guy in the face, he didn't want him dead. Not like this.

He had dreamt of becoming a Hero of Justice, but not once will he harbor feelings of hatred that would result to him killing another living person.

With that in mind, Shirou quickly ran in front of Berserker and blocked his movements as he spread both his arms. The albino looked at him with flat yet sharp eyes, and asked him, sounding like a person who already knew the answer to his own question.

 ** _"What are you doing?"_**

"That's enough. He lost already. There's no way he can fight back the way he is now."

 ** _"Move away, ginger boy. I already told you to not intervene, didn't I?"_**

"Why go so far? Sure that guy tried to kill me and that girl earlier, but you saved us, right? Isn't this enough?"

 ** _"...You...There are also idiots like him living in this city, huh?"_**

"What?"

Berserker sighed at the boy's persuasion that reminded him of someone. That was until his expression changed.

He crushed the large chunk of concrete he was to squish the Mage with a tap of his finger, debris flying in different direction. Shirou covered his eyes to protect himself from the dust and, as it quickly settled, saw the albino reach for him.

He was then pushed to the side and flew a few meters away from the white haired angel, only to witness him being swallowed from below by the dark abyss shaped like a wolf's jaws, the crack spell the Mage had been using since the start.

The fight was far from over. Not only that, Berserker disappeared in an instant.

"Wha-?!"

"Berserker!"

Both Shirou and Illya couldn't believe what just happened. Even with the heavy injuries he had received from Berserker, the Mage was still able to use his spell and successfully swallow him with it in the form of a trap. The young man slowly stood up, bloody and bones creaking with pain, as he held onto his broken right arm. Even then, the Mage looked at them with the same eyes he had used since the beginning of their meeting.

"Heh... Thanks for the save, kid. I guess you did help me after all. All that's left now is to continue where I left off."

"No..."

Shirou thought to himself how idiotic his actions were. This person took advantage of his negotiation with Berserker and now, they lost all means to defend themselves against this Mage. He thought that by stopping Berserker, they could find a way for there to not have bloodshed and bring this guy behind bars.

He was wrong. He had forgotten that even if they did bring him to the authorities, he would only escape using one of his spells. Not only that, it would risk exposing the secret that was the existence of Magic.

If the two went with what he wanted and not kill the Mage, they would be forced to restrain him and bring him somewhere they could detain him, although that was proven useless at this point.

If he had let Berserker stain his hands with blood, Shirou would feel regret over the death of this person he had given indirect consent over without hearing out the motive behind his actions. That again was proven useless.

This Mage denied all of those options and created a third one, with his impartial assistance as the key to it all.

He looked at Illya who was struck with disbelief, still trying to process the situation regarding the loss of her partner. He can see in her face how much she cared for the boy that instantly disappeared from her sight.

"You! What did you do to Berserker?!"

"That boy earlier, was he some sort of familiar? No wonder he tasted so good for an Esper. Since my spell can redirect the flow of Mana, it renders almost all spells useless upon contact. Let's just say the same thing happened to that boy of yours, although this is actually the first time I had something physically alive get swallowed by my spell."

A tear fell on the girl's cheek, realizing what this Mage had just said.

It was his fault this happened and now he had to do what he felt was right.

"Why...why are you doing this? Why do you want that girl dead? ANSWER ME!"

Shirou screamed at the Mage who had just done his deed against Berserker. Said Mage replied with the same cold glare he had been using from the beginning.

"...Have you ever heard of the name 'Othinus'?"

"Othinus?"

Shirou thought he had heard that name before. In fact, he may have heard it recently, especially if the name was mentioned through rumors or-

"Are you talking about the 'Othinus' from the many incidents 2 months ago? The same Othinus who led a terrorist group called 'Gremlin'?"

"I guess it's a good thing that you're at least updated with your world news, kid. The one and only Othinus was my boss. I was a part of Gremlin."

"What?!"

He had only heard from TV the many atrocities Gremlin had done around the world, some of which was the attack in Hawaii and the incited terror in Tokyo. But to think that those attacks were caused by Magicians like him, Shirou couldn't comprehend the absurdity of it all.

Not only that. From what he remembered that was mentioned in the news, Othinus was feared by the world because she had the means to destroy it. Putting two and two together, he had figured that Othinus was a Mage who had some sort of world-ending spell.

Of course this Othinus person failed and was pronounced to the world as dead, stopping whatever she had planned from the beginning.

"Me and other Magicians were a part of Gremlin and ended up as followers of Othinus. We thought that by being a part of her group, we could regain our losses that World War III had brought to us victims and survivors."

"..."

Fenrir clicked his tongue.

"We were wrong. She suddenly turned her backs on us and all the remaining members either got caught or got away. I was one of those who were able to escape."

"...I get it. You're trying to get revenge. But what does this have to do with that girl? And isn't Othinus dead? You're just caught up with the ghost from your past, believing that person still lived and forcing your revenge to other people! You're being delusional!"

Shirou had never seen a broken and crazy person like this Mage until now. To think revenge could push him so far as to randomly attack a girl on the street and throw her off the river. There is no way this person would be let off that easily.

He thought that Berserker was right to some extent. Maybe this Mage should have been killed.

"...Heh. Is that what it looked like? Unfortunately for you, but that girl is pretty much connected to all of this."

"What are you talking about?"

If the Mage's true goal was to take revenge on a dead person, why attack the girl? This question in his mind was answered in an instant.

 **"Othinus is alive and has been living with this girl since then."**

Unbelievable was the first word that came to Shirou's mind after hearing this statement. Not shock, but utter disbelief.

It may seem like this person was pulling his leg, but all this time, he had worn that serious expression on his face and even used it to emphasize his point.

He surmised he was telling the truth. Then again, he could be bluffing his way into his heart for fear and, maybe, sympathy.

"She left us so that she could become a normal person living a normal life? What about the others that died for her cause?! All the lives she had taken and the members we lost? All dead. Escaping her responsibility as our leader so that she could be together with that man? Bullshit! She's a murderer like us and there is no way she'll return to the status quo that easily!"

At this point, all Shirou Emiya heard were ramblings of a broken man who had reached his limits. Everything that was said to him were all nothing but air passing through his ears. He wasn't able to understand half of it, since he wasn't there to experience all of the pain this guy had felt.

In other words, Shirou couldn't feel anything for this person. There was no way he can sympathize with this person at all.

"...By killing the person most close to Othinus, she would come out of hiding and face me, the one person in Norse Mythology who could defeat her. If you knew of the story of Ragnarok, Fenrir will swallow Odin. Othinus is an alternative name, but their pretty much the same to me. She will meet her end with me, Fenrir!"

He had reached the breaking point.

" **...Shut up. I heard enough.** "

"?"

Fenrir paused when the Shirou told him to stop.

"You're telling me that the reason you wanted revenge is because she gave you suffering?"

Shirou looked at the bloodied young man's eyes, enraged to what he had heard.

"Isn't it because you pinned all your hopes on a person who you thought would give you salvation!? It was your choice to join Othinus' group, not hers!"

Shirou took a step forward.

"You've just received the after effects of your actions, following her orders and all of that bullshit that I will never know about!"

A few steps farther, as if trying to reach something.

"You're angry at yourself, knowing that you followed someone whose name was accompanied with the word 'betrayal'. If you think you're fulfilling your role as Fenrir, then Othinus just did the same thing!"

And then he stopped. Shirou looked at the poor excuse of a Mage with disgust and gave him the middle finger.

"You should have seen it coming, idiot!"

"Y-you..."

Fenrir lost composure, his cocky expression exchanged with rage and irritation.

Shirou just had enough of this person's ridiculous proclamation of revenge. He picked up a nearby steel pole that broke off from a street lamp and held it with both hands, much like how he had held his bamboo sword back at the dojo from his home.

"You were able to escape the authorities. You had a second chance at life and change for the better. But you wasted it. You're such a poor excuse of a man that only complained about his own failures and pushing it onto a dead person, Fenrir."

He focused his mind and felt one of his 27 Magic Circuits open. His body felt hot, but that didn't matter. All he wanted to do was to kick this guy in the ass and take him down.

 **" _Trace: On."_**

Lines of green stemmed out from Shirou's hand and spread throughout the metal rod as he whispered these two words. Failure is not an option.

 **" _Reinforcing Auxiliary Components."_**

His Magic Circuits burning after reciting the trigger words for his Magecraft, he concentrated to strengthen the composition of his make-shift weapon and retain its shape.

"You would still dare mock and oppose me, boy?! Then, I won't show mercy."

"Bring it on, creep. I'll make sure to take that smug look off your face."

The two prepared for the next battle: The Beginner Shirou Emiya against Former Gremlin Agent Fenrir. The fight began anew.

* * *

 **Part 5**

" **Bite! Jaws of the Great Wolf!** "

"Play ball!"

Kicking up a stray rock with his foot, the airborne object was swatted using Shirou's make-shift sword strengthened with his Magecraft, as if hitting for homerun in a game of baseball. The rock flew straight into the crack created by Fenrir, closing the instant the two went into contact.

"So that's how your spell works. As long as it gets into contact with something, it shuts itself down, like how a Venus Flytrap snaps its jaws when something lands on its mouth!"

"You must have observed my fight earlier to actually notice that."

Even with a heavily injured body, Fenrir still stood strong. Watching the fight earlier made Shirou realize how sturdy this person was, even with the bone-breaking beatdown.

"But...Unlike that freak show earlier, you don't stand a chance against me, amateur!"

He needed to find a way to get past that crack spell. Since one rock wasn't enough, Shirou thought he needed more so he picked up and pocketed a few before he charged into the enemy's range.

"AAAAAAAH!"

"Foolish move."

Fenrir opened another crack, this time below the boy. It was the same tactic he used against Berserker. Without much further thought, Shirou leapt to the side and avoid the death trap, almost biting off his foot as jaws sprung up. The mechanism of the spell reminded him of bear trap that snaps on something that come into contact with the metal contraption.

He then noticed something strange.

Earlier, Berserker would try to make Fenrir lose balance, resulting to the Mage cancelling his spell. Did that mean that the Fenrir's spell would only work if he had constant contact with the ground? There was also the difference between the number of cracks he created then and now. Instead of spamming many cracks, he's only using 1-2 of the crack spell.

' _His body had reached its limit. I need to finish this before he could be in any condition to spam more or I won't be able to get closer!'_

It may not seem like it, but when casting a spell, there was physical exhaustion. Just like when he was training, Shirou would always feel tired after the session in both mind and body. That was why he was sure about Fenrir's physical condition affecting his spell activation rate.

Using this chance, he ran and threw a pebble for every time Fenrir activates his spell on him, shutting itself down the instant it swallowed the small rocks. For each passing step, Shirou had defied the odds and continued his advance, shortening the distance between him and the Mage.

"What?!"

"You're not getting away!"

Gripping the steel pole with his two hands, Shirou swung it with full strength as he lunged himself at his opponent.

 **"Close Gap! Accelerate!"**

His opponent uttered those words, Shirou missing an inch with his full swing. He then caught sight of Fenrir about to slash him with his left claw. The red head parried it with his weapon and then continued the endless exchange of blows against each other. Sparks flew as they tried to defend each other from the other's strike.

Even then, the person who had activated his acceleration spell had the upper hand and grab Shirou's weapon, pulling it way from him in an attempt to disarm the boy.

Fenrir was successful and threw the weapon aside.

That move only left him open for an attacks as Shirou cracked his forehead against the Mage's own.

"Gah! You!"

The hit stunned Fenrir as he backed away, trying to ease up the pain in an attempt to regain his senses. Shirou then charged at the enemy, his right fist ready to pull off a punch. He had assured to himself at this point that he had won.

That was where he was wrong.

The Mage unexpectedly caught his jab with his still functioning left hand and tripped the boy's leg, falling on his back as he was stomped on his chest repeatedly.

'Gah! Ugh! Argh!"

"I was gonna spare you earlier, but I guess that's impossible now, you ungrateful brat!"

Fenrir was about to use his claws and lunge it deep into the boy's body until strings gathered on his left arm, him being pulled away from his prey.

"DAMN YOU, OTHER BRAT!"

Shirou was confused for few seconds until he recognized the silver strings. He looked to where the two girls were and saw Illya as she held out her palm, controlling said strings. It was too late for Fenrir to recite his spell and was lifted up to the air, unable to use it.

"Onii-chan! Knock him dead!"

"Thanks for the assist!"

Thanking Illya, Shirou quickly stood and, with momentum, ran to Fenrir, his right fist ready to hit the bastard's skull. With one more strong hit to the face, he could finally finish this.

"Shi-"

CRACK

The sound of Fenrir's teeth breaking echoed throughout the riverside park. It may be an exaggeration, but that only meant as a way to say that Shirou Emiya's punch finally reached the Mage's face.

Illya released her hold against the Mage and the two watched him fall on the cold floor. Shirou then relaxed his tense body as he finally felt the pain he had received from his opponent earlier, kneeling down on the floor.

He never expected for the weakened guy to still have such leg strength that kicked him until he felt almost unconscious.

"Th-This girl's kind of heavy..."

He glanced to where the girls were, seeing the little girl carry the one he had saved as they slowly walked to his direction. He was glad the two were okay. Fatigue started to surface within his body.

Once the girl wakes up, he should ask for her name. It was rather exhausting thinking up of how to differentiate the two, having almost the same physical attributes and all that.

So many things happened today and exhaustion was the result of it all.

"Onii-chan, watch out!

The girl's warning didn't make it, his reaction time felt slow. Shirou felt a sole dug itself into his face and he rolled onto the jagged floor. He stopped in front of the two girls and tried to regain his senses.

He then saw the ruffle-haired Fenrir positioning his jaw back to where it should be, standing as traces of blood dripped on his face.

"You...*crack* Gah! I'm going to destroy everything in this park. Hehe... Looking down on my revenge...I won't allow any survivors!"

"Bastard, you're still onto that?! Wake up already! You lost!"

"I won't stop...Not now...My chances of calling her out are high, and I'm not letting some amateur magician like you get in the way of my revenge!"

"You do realize Onii-chan isn't the only Mage here, right? I'm plenty powerful enough to kill you. Not only that, taking Berserker away from me like that is something that should be paid blood with. **_Your blood, that is_**."

He admittedly felt his spine chill when he heard the pissed-off looking girl behind him.

Shirou could only commend for this guy's persistence, but he could only see a foolish man who couldn't comprehend the situation presented in front of him. With the way Fenrir was at the moment, he could go for another punch to the face and knock him out for real.

"You're not getting away that easily. Not after everything you did tonight."

"Is that so?...Hehe... The name Fenrir could be associated with the term 'Destruction', you know?... I could just swallow this whole place up with what Mana I still have left!"

 ** _"Wrong, you mangy mutt."_**

""!""

All consciously present heard the cold monotonous voice that came from behind the bloodied Mage who called himself Fenrir. He looked behind him to see that the crack spell he used on the floor still persisted even though it had supposedly fulfilled its purpose.

It was then that wings of white pried it open, the albino Berserker revealed himself as if rising from the grave to which he was buried in.

Technically speaking, he did sort of got buried which made the scene looked bizarre. Even the way he crawled out of the crack was reminiscent of a zombie in movies.

 ** _"No one's dying today, except for you, you stupid piece of dogshit."_**

"Acc-Berserker, you're okay!"

 ** _"Of course I'm okay, brat, although it took me longer than I expected to crawl out of that idiotic trap."_**

It may not be visible in her face but Shirou can guess that the girl named Illya was filled with joy, especially after finding out about the albino's current state.

The Mage Fenrir received the albino's gaze, never leaving him in his sight, much like how animals are wary of their prey-no, their predator.

"I-I see now... Those wings of yours clogged up the opening... Is that made of Telesma? If it was, then Academy must have done something to make you reach that position akin to an angel."

 ** _"I have no idea what you're talking about, but these wings have been pretty useful to me so it doesn't really matter."_**

Finally able to release himself from the grasp of Fenrir's spell, Berserker stood away from the crack that dispersed after lifting away his foot. He massaged his nape as his gaze fell upon the Mage.

"T-This is ridiculous. Y-You should have been dead the moment you got swallowed by my spell! Aren't you a familiar?! With a property like that of a Magician's lowly servant, you should have broken down to pieces!"

 ** _"Huh? Again, I don't speak magic, you idiot. True, that brat's my master, but that doesn't mean I'm the same as everyone else's. Maybe I'm an exception? Now... Where did we stop? I was about to kill you right?"_**

"For a Magician like me to lose to all of you, this can't be...This can't be happening!"

 ** _"Oh, yes it is, you dumbfuck"_**

"Wait."

Berserker was just about ready to beat the shit out of Fenrir as he cracked his fists when Shirou suddenly spoke up from where he lay. He stood and approached the fear-stricken Mage, quivering from his beating earlier and mental instability. There was confusion embedded on the Mage's face as the boy stopped in front of him.

"What are you doing Onii-chan?!"

 ** _"Are we doing this again, kid? Didn't I tell you to-"_**

"No, it's...nothing like what we talked about earlier. In fact...I have something to tell you. Same goes for you too, Fenrir."

At this point, the red head knew that there was no way this guy can escape now that Berserker's back in action. Not only that, There had been something he had wanted to do since this all began. Something he already did but wanted to do again, as long as this person's conscious.

"...This is for the dumb speech you had earlier, you fucked up piece of shit."

Shirou Emiya strongly punched the lights out of the Magician's eyes that branded himself as Fenrir with the swing of his right fist. The poor excuse of a man flew a few feet as he staggered and fell to his back, the backlash from Berserker's earlier beatdown finally taking effect.

This time, Fenrir was knocked out cold for real.

""!""

Gasping for air, Shirou looked at the albino with a grin on his face and addressed his point.

"You...told me earlier that the girl's my responsibility now, didn't you? As her protector...It only makes sense for me to finish this, since she hurt her, isn't that right? Heh...Ugh..."

After saying his piece, darkness came upon his sight as his body gave out and fell unconscious on the battered floor.

* * *

 **Part 6**

 ** _"...Just like him alright."_**

Seeing the boy called Shirou Emiya fall after delivering a punch to the Magician called Fenrir reminded Accelerator of the time he first fought Touma Kamijou. Now that that albino thought about it, the red head reminded him so much of that spiky haired hero. He just hoped that the two weren't related in some way.

Now that would be a really weird coincidence.

 ** _"Heh, so what now? We got three people lying on the floor and one of them is psychotic."_**

Accelerator picked up his crutch that was a few meters away to prevent it from getting destroyed in the the middle of the fight. Switching off his powers using the electrode on his neck, he looked around him and spotted a few things.

Shirou Emiya, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and Fenrir.

These three were involved in a incident instigated by the Magician who used his knowledge in Norse Mythology to kill the girl that was saved by the red-headed teen.

Aside from these three, there was also the collateral damage caused by him and Fenrir. Last but not the least was his master, Illyasviel von Einzbern, looking after the injured.

Illya looked at him, unamused with the situation. Their goal for today was to leave Shirou Emiya a message regarding the upcoming war, only for them to save him from a murderer after a random girl's blood. Not only that, the montage of their fight probably got caught by some passing by civilians, which could lead to serious trouble.

The world, in today's standards, tries to find ways to prevent exposing the reality of Magic existing in modern day society. It had been endangered ever since the events of last year, some of which include the British Halloween in England, the events of World War Three, the Hawaii Gremlin incident, Tokyo Bay Siege, the Othinus Chase in Denmark , etc.

Even with these supernatural incidents, most people would only rationalize it as something that was caused by organizations dealing with the same thing Academy City does.

Either way, incidents caused by Magic was something that should still be hidden to the public's eye.

"The only thing we can do is restrain him, although he would just run away afterwards. Throwing him off the river may be a good idea to clean him off of our hands, but I guess you won't let me do that, right?"

 ** _"So you noticed my hesitation earlier, huh? Pretty perceptive there, Illya."_**

"Even with the use of the Command Spell earlier, you were still able to control yourself. The proof of that was when Shirou stopped you in the middle of fulfilling my order. *sigh* Just how can you, a Servant who fell to supposedly the most obedient class, became resistant to the Command Spell's power? It's still a mystery, alongside your summoning."

 ** _"I just hope I don't get to face someone I knew and care about. Things will only get painful for me in the long run."_**

"..I hope that's the case. There are already five Servants summoned for the Holy Grail War, including us, and so far we still have no information regarding their identity and which class they belong to."

Illya paused, thinking of what to say next.

She had observed the way Accelerator looked at the girl they saved alongside Shirou. There was no doubt that he knew her. In fact, she may have seen her recently, especially back at Academy City, wherein she discovered some things regarding the Holy Grail War.

"But... I may have an idea on who the sixth or seventh Master is."

 ** _"Really?"_**

Illya pulled Accelerator's hand and guided him to where Index lay beside Shirou Emiya. He then figured that the possibility behind the girl's enthusiasm of meeting Shirou and giving him that warning was because the boy's a Master.

"Tell me, do you know this girl?"

Accelerator's master asked him as she pointed her finger at Index. That confused him, but answered her question regardless.

 ** _"An acquaintance of an acquaintance. Why?"_**

"...Then I guess this is a sort of bad news for you then. While I was caring for her, I found this."

Illya then pulled up the girl's right sleeve, revealing a red mark etched on the back side of her hand. Seeing this, Accelerator knelt down to make sure his eyes were not tricking him and took a closer look. His fears were confirmed to have become a reality.

 ** _"...So that's why you're here. I'll have to give that idiot a piece of my mind later."_**

"Who are you talking about? In fact, who is this 'damn hero' I keep hearing about? You even mentioned that this person's the same as Shirou."

 ** _"Not exactly the same, but I'll keep that a mystery for you to figure out."_**

"Hmph! You're starting to play me for a fool again."

Touma Kamijou was only a phone call away to ask him what the heck happened between the two. Now that Accelerator thought about it, he also thought to check up on Last Order and the big guy later once they get back on the castle. For now, they need to focus on handling the current situation.

Illya's suggestion of throwing off Fenrir into the river started to seem like a good idea to him, now that he thought about it carefully.

"I think I can help you with your problems."

During that time, they had an unexpected visitor that helped them resolve part of the issue.

-0-

Shirou woke up from his short slumber, with the cold air hitting his face. He recognized the place he was currently in as the road that would lead him back to his home. That was when he noticed how he got here in the first place.

At the moment, a white haired albino gave him a piggyback ride. The silver haired girl he saved was on his arms, being carried like a princess.

The little girl, on the other hand, was beside this person, looking pissed that she had to walk on foot while the two injured party had to be cared for by Berserker as she carried his crutch and a bag that looked much like his.

 ** _"Do you think we could trust that girl to take care of that guy? You do know that-"_**

"It can't be helped. Besides, Fenrir isn't our responsibility. The reason we were there was to save Shirou Emiya from that criminal."

It seemed that the two were having a conversation regarding the incident earlier. The white-haired duo were rather caught up with their conversation that they had not noticed him waking up.

 ** _"Then why are we bringing him back to his home? I thought you just wanted to have a glimpse of the boy before the war starts?"_**

"Well, it would be really awkward for us to not go this far. I've already branded us as their saviors, you know?"

 ** _"You did what?! This is the first time I've heard of this! Don't you realize that-"_**

"ACHOO!"

"Ah. Onii-chan's up."

Thanks to his sudden sneeze, Illya saw Shirou's energetic gaze and relayed the news to Berserker. The albino turned his head to see the boy's condition.

 ** _"Hm? Finally awake, sleepyhead? Must be nice being carried like this, huh?"_**

"Uh...I-I'm fine now. I-I'd feel more comfortable walking with my own two feet."

 ** _"Good. I don't like the position I'm in either. One is enough, but two? Give me a break. I've expended too much battery for today."_**

Shirou ejected himself from Berserker's back and stabilized himself, feeling the pain from earlier to be gone. They must have treated him while he was passed out. Although it would have been nice if they had an extra coat...

"W-Wait...W-What happened? W-Where's Fenrir?"

"A girl that belonged in a Magical Organization picked him up and arrested him. What was its name again?... I think she called it 'Necessarius'."

"Necessarius?"

 ** _"Her explanation was that it's an organization that deals with incidents like earlier and that they hunt down Magicians who would disturb peace...or something to that effect. Let's just say she's a Magical girl who would protect people with the power of love and friendship and other bullshit concepts to defeat evil."_**

...That description made it seem like they received help from Sailormoon or something to that effect.

"Ahaha...S-So they're the authorities that o-overseers incidents related to m-magic, just l-like earlier?"

"With the exception of that incomprehensible last statement, let's just go with that explanation, Onii-chan. Although..."

 ** _"..."_**

The two albinos went silent afterwards. From what they mentioned earlier in their small talk, they had problems trusting that agent of Necessarius. There was also something about them mentioning that he was their responsibility. He needed to know what that meant.

He also needed to warm himself up. With his sleeves ripped off, exposing the skin of his toned arms, he will surely get a bad case of the colds.

 ** _"Do you mind? I need to turn this off."_**

Berserker motioned himself to pass the silver-haired girl for him to carry. Shirou shakily nodded and turned around to receive the package. She was lightweight, true to the girl's figure. Illya passed the crutch to its owner as the receiver clicked a button on the device in his choker. Berserker then covered the girl with the coat that resembled Shirou's

"ACHOO! W-where'd you guys found my s-stuff? I-I thought I left it at the bridge?"

"We didn't, Onii-chan. The agent did. Apparently she was also responsible for setting up a barrier to protect us from the public's eye."

 ** _"In other words, kid, no one knew there was a fight in the park."_**

"A-amazing..."

This agent they spoke about set up a spell to prevent innocents from getting caught in the fight? He never knew there were people like that in Fuyuki (Since he thought that the city was devoid of one). He was fascinated even more to the idea of Magic being able to do almost anything. If only he could learn and do more aside from Reinforcement Magecraft...

As thanks, Shirou brought up an offer.

"B-by the way, y-you guys want to d-drop into my place? I b-bet you're t-tired from all of the t-things that happened t-today."

"..."

 ** _"..."_**

There was tension in the atmosphere, originating from the white-haired duo, whose outfit made it seem like they came from a place where endless winter only existed. Said duo huddled each other and whispered things he wasn't able to catch on with his ears.

 ** _"This is why you don't address yourselves as saviors, brat! Where did that idea come from anyway! Don't tell me you're teaming up with this weakling?!"_**

 ** _"_** That's not it! I just wanted him to be indebted to us! With that kind of status, we could use him as a key!"

 ** _"A key to what?! I thought you wanted him dead! Weren't you babbling a while ago that_** **_you want to take revenge or something from this guy? In fact, you haven't even told me the deal between you two!"_**

"Oh yeah?! I'm sorry, _but I'll keep that a mystery for you to figure out!"_

 ** _"You little-"_**

"Now we're even, you idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

 ** _"You're being childish right now, you know that?!"_**

"Because I am!"

 ** _"No you're not! I don't buy that child-like body of yours, since your mindset is that of a mature woman. There was also that stupid dre-Bah! Forget it!_** **_Do whatever you want! Just don't call for me once Sella lectures you for going home so late at night, missy."_**

"Fine. Even if you did try to oppose me, I'll just make you remember why I'm your Master with these spell right here."

 ** _"! You wouldn't dare...!"_**

"Oh yes I will."

 ** _"Tch!"_**

Take note that these two were still huddled to each other as they tried to vote on a decision and Shirou couldn't hear their ongoing discussion.

 _'I wonder what they're talking about? It started to look intense...Could it be they needed to be somewhere else? Am I being a bother with what I offered?'_

During all of this, Shirou contemplated on how he would address the topic of him being their responsibility, but it seemed that discussion wouldn't happen. As the two continued bickering, he looked behind him to see the silver-haired girl's pale face, peaceful as she slept with all of her problems dissolved.

' _This girl...She was caught up to something her friend had done in the past. Did she knew? I wonder what this girl did to change a former terrorist's life for the better?'_

He knew nothing of the events regarding two months ago, but he had heard of the news concerning the terrorist group Gremlin. Their identities weren't disclosed to the public, making it seem like they didn't exist. The thing was that they had wrought havoc, enough for them to be featured as a world threat. All of the damages they had done around were no joke.

And the one who lead that group was someone this girl behind him had made a friend of and helped to change her for the better, enough to turn her back against the terror she had brought to the world. If that was the case, she would still be treated as a world treat, right?

The media had announced that Othinus died, that much he knew. But the world never knew how they were able to pull that off. And the answer lay within the silver haired girl who-

*groooooooooooooooooowl*

Shirou, and Illya stopped whatever they were doing and looked around to find the source of the sound that possibly belonged to a lion.

"W-What was t-that?"

"I didn't know there are wild cats living in the city!"

 ** _"..."_**

Berserker stood silently, looking at the girl on his back. It was like he knew where that wild roar came from. The answer was made even more obvious when the said girl spoke in her sleep.

"Touma...Make me food...I'm hungry...Hurry...Index will bite you if you don't."

The three went silent.

"...Ahahaha...S-so it was her? I-I guess it would be b-best to h-hurry home. I also f-feel h-hungry. ACHOO!...And cold."

"...O-oh...For a second I thought I'm gonna get pounced by a lion in the urban jungle. Good thing it was just that girl's stomach."

 ** _"...Just what are you doing right now, you damn hero?"_**

Each made their sentiments regarding the silver-haired girl and her loud stomach. Thanks to that, it indirectly broke the ice between Berserker and Illya. The two approached him and told him of their decision.

"I guess it's fine. There is something we have to talk about anyway and this is the best chance I could get."

 ** _"...Just make sure the coffee's good."_**

Shirou smiled.

"I-I'm d-delighted to h-have you as v-visitors."

The three walked back to the Emiya Residence, where the three would have an important discussion.

"O-oh right. L-let me introduce myself. M-my name is S-Shirou Emiya. You c-could say I'm j-just a beginner w-when it c-comes to Magic."

"Illyasviel von Einzbern. This crippled idiot beside me is Berserker."

 ** _"Or just call me Accelerator. Either way, I really don't have a proper name."_**

"I-it's a p-pleasure to f-finally know your n-names."

The three introduced themselves to each other, much like how everyone else should when trying to know some people you want to be friends with. Everything was supposed to go well, until...

-0-

Berserker collapsed once the four reached the door to Shirou Emiya's home.

"E-eh? What happened to him?! W-was he...ACHOO!...W-was he injured and d-didn't tell us?!"

"...No...It can't be...!"

Illya approached the albino and took a look at the boy's choker. It was then that Shirou heard footsteps coming from inside his house. He knew it was already past curfew, but he didn't expect that his visitors would still be waiting for him.

"Shirouuuu! Where have you been?! I was-"

"ACHOOO! *sniff* Brrr!...F-Fuji-nee?...I t-thought y-you w-went ho-ho-...ACHOOO!"

"Why did you run out of battery now, of all times?! How are we going to get home, you dolt?!"

 ** _"...Ksssh..."_**

"...Cold..."

"...Eh? What's going on, Shirou?! Who are these people?! "

On one hand we have Taiga Fujimura who, after accompanying Sakura Matou back to her home, went back to the Emiya Residence.

The other was the highschool student who lived in it, Shirou Emiya, dripping wet and sneezing like there's no tomorrow.

Near him was white haired teenage boy who held a crutch with his right hand, Accelerator, fully collapsed on the floor with no signs of waking up.

On top of the poor soul was a silver haired, little girl who should be sleeping at this time of the night, Illyasviel von Einzbern, furiously shaking the seemingly unconscious teen as she shouted curses and slapped him crazy on his face.

And lastly, a silver-haired girl who quietly muttered as she was soundly asleep on the red-headed boy's back, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, covered with the boy's dry winter coat meant to protect her from the cold.

And this was how the three sides of the world gathered in one place. All we can hope for now is how they would interact with each other.

* * *

 **Part 7**

Somewhere in Fuyuki City, different pairs of people, all of which were connected to the Holy Grail War, had sensed an immense power that possibly belonged to one of the Servants.

Their Masters discovered this and had made their preparations.

-0-

Inside a chapel on top of the hill...

"Oh... So the Master of Berserker had made contact with the possible Wild Card? Interesting. Please continue your surveillance, just as I have ordered, Lancer."

"...Understood. What about our guest?"

"Don't worry. We shall make good use of him once he is viable to move...Hmhm..."

-0-

Within the dimly-lit basement of a certain facility...

"Will you make your move, Master?"

"I'd rather not get caught up between the crossfire. Besides, there are things far more important things to attend to rather than the Holy Grail War. Until then, we act when threatened, Caster."

"...As you wish."

-0-

In the red-light district of Shinto...

"Waaah! Brooooo, this beer's good! Oy! Come here and drink with me, buddy! You won't get to have a chance like this once the war starts!"

"Rider! Help! I'm drowning! These girls-Hmmmmph!

"Whaaaaaat? I can't here you over the sound of the girls giggling and smothering up on you! HAHAHAHA!"

-0-

Inside Ryuudou Temple...

"Haaa...Accelerator rampaging like that just to take down a criminal? He really needs to control himself. Don't you think so, 'Assassin'?"

"With the use of a Command Spell, I don't think he would stand a chance resisting it, 'Master'."

"I guess. Let's just observe them for now. They even had Index Librorum Prohibitorum with them. Things just started to get interesting..."

-0-

In a western-styled mansion in Mitama District...

"Let's see.. I have to wait for 2 o'clock to start the ritual, right? Ooh I hope get to summon Saber tonight!"

Little did she knew that the clocks all around her home were an hour early.

-0-

The Holy Grail War will start once the seventh Master summons his/her Servant. That time draws near.

* * *

 **Between The Lines 2**

In a place totally unrelated to Magic, somewhere in Academy City, an Anti-Skill operation was under way.

Most incidents that happen inside Academy City were mostly cases of Espers that had gone rogue, by-products of incomprehensible experiments, terrorist attacks, and forced entry of unknown forces into the city.

In such cases, Academy City created two organizations that dealt with such problems: Judgement, who focuses on disciplining the students, and Anti-Skill, who handles cases that were more serious and threaten the peaceful lives of the citizens.

Anti-Skill could be considered the police and, at the same time, the city's military force with most of its members consisting of teachers who hailed from different schools located within the city. In actuality, teachers that are part of Anti-Skill are pretty much devoted to protect the citizens and treat education as more of a side job.

One particular officer, who had only been recruited a month ago, was on the move, along with his fellow squad members, while orders came from the one leading the team, Aiho Yomikawa.

"Do you hear me, people? If so, I'll provide you guys with this mission's objectives. We received a tip that there is an illegal human experimentation happening inside this building. There were reports of children and students missing in the past few days, and we suspect these disappearances are connected to said illegal activity. Our mission is to save those children and stop the experiment from starting. We will arrest those who are in anyway involved with this messed up act of treating children as experiment fodder."

This was his first mission ever since being transferred to the city. For some reason around December, he was approached by a representative from Academy City, offering him a job to teach at a high school inside and work for the police force of the well-known city. As for the reasons he accepted however...

Yomikawa relayed her instructions and strategy to each and all 8 members of the squad, who were able to sneak inside the research building. His turn came in next.

"Okay! As for the new recruit...Kuzuki-san, was it? I need you to partner up with Tessou and secure the perimeter. Report immediately if you spot something. If it has the capability to attack, don't engage and wait for reinforcements."

"Eh? We're waiting outside? R-roger!...Now that I thought about it, why did you bring Kuzuki-san to this mission, lieutenant? Isn't this mission too big for him?"

"""!"""

Silence grew between the members of the squad, until Yomikawa quickly replied.

"! W-well...? I-isn't this the best time for him to rack up on those experience points? Being new doesn't mean he had to be benched for the most part of his stay in this city as an officer for Anti-Skill. W-wouldn't you agree, Kuzuki-san?"

With a wry smile, the lieutenant looked at him, her face screaming that he should agree.

"...Hm. It is as you say, Lieutenant Yomikawa."

'E-Eh?! W-well then..."

"..."

Kuzuki went silent after responding and looked around. They were currently inside the research facility, right after entering through the back entrance. For an infiltration mission, they needed to sneak around and catch the researchers on the act for them to make their arrest official.

Unlike the other officers with him, however, he had some suspicions regarding the ongoing operation.

For a research facility, they were able to get inside without any trouble. Security was rather lax, of all days.

He was also suspect with how Lieutenant Yomikawa got wind of the information regarding this night's said experiment. It may be a tip, but it was still unconfirmed information that had to go through processing before the higher-ups would authorize their present operation.

In fact, the people with him seem to trust Yomikawa enough for them to join her in this **unofficial** Anti-Skill business.

He never knew Yomikawa that much, but he can take a good guess that she really cared for the citizens of the city especially the students, to which 80% of its population was composed of them. That may also be the case with the other 6 people in the team.

That was not the same case for him, however.

As for the real reason he was part of the infiltration team...

-0-

"Geh! How long have you been there?!"

Souichirou Kuzuki had no intention of eavesdropping in the slightest when he heard Yomikawa talking about her plans inside one of the headquarters' study room, with a few of their colleagues.

They nonchalantly entered the room without permission, as if dismissing his existence as some sort of air.

If only he never hid under one of the tables after checking up on the faulty cameras he was asked to fix, he wouldn't have heard about the illegal operation they were planning to execute on the same night.

"...Since the beginning."

"You...!"

His stoic expression must have angered one of the men, who charged at his direction and about to push him to the ground. His senior, if he thought about it correctly, must be planning on shutting him up by knocking him unconscious, tie him up and place him in a solitary space where no one will find him.

To prevent that, Kuzuki took the first move once the man was in his range, whipping his right hand and hitting him in the nape. The man quickly fell to his knees, saliva frothing out of his mouth.

"Wha- He took out Kujou with only one hit?!"

"Wait...I know you! You're that transferee from a month ago! Souichirou Kuzuki!"

"Kuzuki?! Ya mean the 'Snake' evr'y one's been talkin' 'bout?!"

"..."

Now that he thought about, he was given that nickname because of how he moved his arms and the way he took out his practice partners with only one hit (bite).

"Kh! He heard about the operation! We can't oppose him through brute force! Not only that, he'll surely tell the higher-ups about our plan once he got out of this room! We're doomed!"

One of the officers started to panic, some of them stood defensively as if preventing him to escape.

Kuzuki just acted in self-defense, but he got caught in this mess. True, he has the key to be these officers's downfall. Not only will these people lose their jobs, but they will also get locked up in jail due to insubordination.

Amidst all that, a suggestion was offered from the one who started the meeting.

"You. Either you're with us or against us."

Aiho Yomikawa walked to where he stood, uttering those words.

"If you stop us now, lives will be at stake. We're talking about lives of children who are about to be sacrificed for goddamn who knows what kind of experiment!"

"...And you will oppose the organization just to do that? You will sacrifice yourself and your people around here to commence an operation due to unreliable information that is more likely a hoax?"

"What did you just say, you-"

Again, his statement angered another officer that made a mad dash at him. The tall woman held out her right arm to prevent him from doing so, the momentum making it seem like he hit his face from an overhead signboard and fell unconscious on the floor.

She had one tough arm, so to speak.

"Eh? Sorry, Isogai..."

Yomikawa apologized under her breath, hoping that the passed out officer heard her.

"Yes. I will take my chances. It is my duty to protect those children after all, especially if they're students."

"...That is no doubt a foolish move. If that is your answer, then I won't yield with mine. My loyalty is with the organization as a whole."

"Hard-headed aren't we? Then you leave us no choice either."

Yomikawa motioned her right hand in an unfamiliar way, as if giving a signal to her comrades.

Kuzuki did not recognize the meaning of it, as it was something he never knew from the things he learned. He was even more confused when everyone in the room awake pulled out their mask-

"!"

A cannister was thrown to his feet, the smoke blew right to his face. He was to pull out his mask, but it wasn't in his belongings. His head felt dizzy, his body paralyzed, and he finally fell to the floor.

Losing all five senses, he heard Yomikawa's final statement.

"I'm sorry, but we'll need your strength, whether you like it or not. For now, rest before the mission starts."

-0-

He looked at his teammates for the mission and noticed that the two men back at the study room weren't with them. It might be because they were sent to the nearest infirmary, while they smuggled his body out and placed him inside one of the vans.

It looked like that he and Tessou replaced those two. No wonder the girl asked about his presence.

Since he became part of the group, he would have to cooperate at the moment.

"Okay, let's move out!"

With him and Tessou on the backlines to guard the door, the other team lead by Yomikawa headed deep into the facility.

...

...

... A few minutes had passed but Kuzuki and Tessou haven't heard from the team that went in.

Continuing from his analysis of the situation, Kuzuki thought that it was strange for the facility to be lax with their security. The information was unreliable and it seemed to have a deeper purpose, leading out Anti-Skill to this place like they are at the moment.

That was when it hit him.

He could only conclude from his thoughts earlier that this operation itself was only a front. And the one behind the tip would most likely take advantage of their situation.

In short, the operation was a bust since the beginning.

Kuzuki pulled out his radio, only for it to only produce static. Tessou noticed the noise and approached him.

"What's going? Are the signals jammed?"

"It seems so. I'm going in."

Kuzuki took a few steps in before Tessou grabbed him in the arm.

"Eh? W-wait, Kuzuki-san! You can't just leave our post like that! What will happen to-"

"This is a trap. We have to tell the others quickly. They are in danger."

There's a hint of surprise in her face when she heard him say those words. She thought hard in a rather ridiculous pose before she returned to a more composed position.

"...F-fine. B-but I'm coming with you. As someone of higher rank, I can't let a recruit like yourself get in trouble, okay? You're my responsibility after all."

"...Come. But don't drag me down."

"Eh?! What do you mean by that?!"

The two officers dashed into action, unaware of the presence that followed suit afterwards.

The figure muttered.

"Just wait. Big sister is coming to save you."

* * *

A/N: For those who read Unlucky Servants before coming here, Welcome. For those who started with False Reality, it's nice to see you guys again.

I will apologize in advance if this Shirou is not to your liking. I did try to write him in this chapter as a nice guy gone nigga when his kindness was used as a tool/distraction to almost kill off Accelerator, but I think I did it wrong? Also, there's a lot of swearing this time. Does that mean I need to level up the rating to an M?

Index...She'll live, along with that command spell of hers. What does that imply for Shirou?

I wonder how crappy the fight scene for this chapter was from you guy's perspective. I mean Shirou took down a Magician on his own(weakened though)!

For those wondering if Fenrir comes back in the story, only time will tell. Info about the wolf is based on a certain site I read that focuses on Norse Mythology(digest version so it's easy to understand)

Part 7 seals the deal on who became Servants! I hope you guys liked my choices! You have to figure that part out on your own though, so good luck!

So Kuzuki became part of Anti-Skill, huh? I've been hinting at this way back at US, but I guess you thought I'll never touch on that topic. WRONG.

So who appeared at the last part of the chapter, you say? Let me give you guys a hint: the upcoming *****!

Now that the three sides of the world met at the Emiya Residence, what would they talk about? Find out in the next chapter!

Welp, as always R&R (Read and Review) and see you guys on the next update!

P.S. Huh? I was supposed to update Unlucky Servants? Sorry, fic is pretty much abandoned now, so you'll have to get your cravings here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Toaru Majutsu no Index and Fate Series are properties of Kazuma Kamachi and Type-Moon, respectively.**

* * *

 **Part 1**

Revealing the partly faded magic circle that was hidden under the large table that she moved earlier, Rin Tohsaka started to prepare for a certain ceremony. She filled in the missing parts of the aged circle, just like she had studied in one of her books about summoning a familiar.

After gathering all the things she needed, the only thing left was to wait for the clock's short hand to hit 2:00 AM. The girl tightly clutched the red pendant she found from her father's study.

"…"

The ceremony she was about to conduct was the same ceremony her father had invoked 10 years ago, as per family tradition. Now, it was her turn to join the ritual called the Holy Grail War, as the Tohsaka family's fifth generation Master to participate in it.

The thought of finally summoning her own Servant filled her with both nervousness and excitement. There was the possibility of her dying, but that didn't matter. Rin was confident enough, as she will do everything in order to win.

Then the time to draw out her Servant finally came.

"Now then, I should start."

Standing on top of the insignia, Tohsaka then held out few pieces of her jewelry, melted it in her hands as she crushed it in her heating palms, and let the substance drip to the circle. It slowly spread and coated the writings as it glowed red. With a follow-up, the twin-tailed Mage recited the key words that finally activated the complex calculations written on the summoning circle.

" **Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg. _"_**

The red hue emanating from the circle enveloped the dust-filled basement, various signs and symbols started to float around Tohsaka.

 ** _"_** **The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.** ** _"_**

The earlier non-existent wind suddenly blew open the pages of the books that surrounded Tohsaka, her black hair visibly waving to the tune of the air.

 ** _"_** **Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Repeat every five times. Simply, shatter once filled.** ** _"_**

In her mind she wished for the Saber –Class Servant to descend in front of her. As one of the strongest classes, she would have an advantage and utterly defeat the chosen Masters who would participate in the 'competition'.

 **"…I announce. Your self is under me; my fate is in your sword. In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer."**

As she continued, the wind blew stronger, the floating symbols spun around as it formed a ring around her, and tremors shook the foundation of the mansion. That didn't matter to Rin Tohsaka as she continued. She can feel that she was close. So close from finally drawing out a powerful Servant. Excitement filled her being as she fully dictated the final part of the incantation.

 **"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance** **！** **"**

And thus Rin Tohsaka was blinded by the lights that quickly spread all over the room.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Sixth Servant**

* * *

 **Part 0**

January 31st.

'A day like this wouldn't be so bad', was what Rin Tohsaka would have told herself except she discovered the fact that she went to school an hour too early.

She wondered why there was too much silence in the neighborhood as she walked on her way to Homurabara Academy. After entering school grounds and seeing her friend Ayako Mitsuzuri in her Archery Uniform, everything made sense.

Thinking about it thoroughly, the only possible reason she had woken up an hour early was due to all of the clocks and time implements inside her home getting adjusted through some weird reason. She did wake up thanks to her noisy alarm clock. The trigger could have been her discovery of the red pendant from last night. Unlocking the box that contained it may have activated some kind of spell her father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had placed on it. For what reason, she wouldn't be able to know now that the old man had gone to rest in peace.

Coincidentally, she had a dream about him, too. It was that time when he was leaving for the Holy Grail War from 10 years ago. If only she knew, she could have said a proper goodbye to her father.

After conversing with Ayako, the 2nd year high school teenager was greeted a very rude morning from the Student Council President, Issei Ryudou, and his friend who was working as his lackey for the moment, Shirou Emiya. For the first time in a long while, the red headed teen had greeted her a good morning, although it came out a bit weird as they never really interacted both inside and outside school grounds.

Then again, Emiya is the type of person who is friendly to everyone, even if they are total strangers.

The twin-tailed girl went ahead inside the still empty classroom of section 2-A, passing the time as she studied for today's lessons quietly. A few minutes later, people started entering as they too also prepared for the day's lessons. Sadly, such peace of mind was disrupted the moment an irritating noble appeared with the most condescending voice she had been hearing since that's person's arrival a few weeks ago.

"Ara ara! If it isn't Tohsaka-san!~ You got up early~"

By irritating noble, she meant Luviagelita Edelfelt. Hearing that annoying woman popped a vein on Rin's forehead for a short while as she quickly fixed her composure.

"Oh, good morning, Edelfelt-san~! It is a fine morning indeed~"

She returned the greeting with the same tone the twin-drilled blondie had given her. Everyone in the classroom went silent for a moment, but quickly returned to their personal activities.

It had almost been a month since Luvia first attended Homurabara Academy as a foreign transfer student from London. It was also the first day of their last term as 2nd years, so Rin found it weird that someone was able to transfer this late in the school year.

Of course she found her answers... the painfully ridiculous way.

-0-

The first day of the 3rd term.

When the clocks strike 12, Rin visits the rooftop to eat her lunch. Sometimes she would be accompanied by Ayako, but at most she would spend the 30-minute break alone.

The only reason she could think of eating lunch on the rooftop was due to its atmosphere of peace and quiet. She didn't mind the occasional strong winds as this helps in giving her a serene mind. Provided with the meal is a gorgeous landscape of the town on one side and the structural modernism of the tall buildings on the other. From this, Rin considered Homurabara Academy's rooftop as one of her safe havens that takes her away from the busy life of both student and mage professions.

As always, Rin walked a few stairs up before reaching her so-called safe haven. As always, Rin opened the unlocked doors that led to the open space, winter winds blew with a chance of snow falling later tonight. As always, Rin would sit to one side of the fence that would show her the magnificence of the city. As always, Rin would...Smell Darjeeling Tea?

"Hm?"

"...Ah."

For some reason, the transfer student from her class sat on a lavishly decorated chair, accompanied by a table covered in a white, frilly cloth. On top of the table was a slice of strawberry shortcake and ceramic white teapot with curved, elongated spout, containing the Darjeeling Tea her olfactory sense had detected. Beside the foreigner was an intimidating old man in a long tailcoat, acting as her aide. The blonde's chestnut-colored eyes stared into her black pupils while she held a teacup with a raised pinky, possibly asking why there was another student in the rooftop.

If anything, Rin just sat there, confused as to how can a person like this could be so nonchalant with bringing her butler to school grounds as if it was normal.

The first to break the silence was Luvia.

"Would you like some tea?"

"...I hope I'm not being a bother."

Rin accepted the offer, as she didn't want to appear rude to the newcomer. She did have a certain reputation to maintain.

She sat on the chair offered by the old man as he pushed the seat inside. Rin watched as the butler prepared the tea for her; the aromatic smell of flowers permeated her nose. She can tell it was brewed well. There was also grace in the butler's hand movements as he poured the liquid into the teacup, careful not to spill anything from such overhead position.

"Please enjoy."

The old butler bowed after handing out her serving of tea and cake and walked beside her milady.

Rin took a sip of the tea and a jolt to the brain signaled satisfaction. It was better than she had expected. The way she prepares her tea wouldn't reach such a high bar, meaning it had to be the quality of the leaves that was used by the butler.

She then took a bite from the cake. Another unexpected taste! The utter flavor of strawberry permeated through the two layers of sugary delectableness. The mild kick the tea gave complimented really well with the sweet, fruity-flavored cake.

To describe the taste was like running in a flower field as she was being chased by her beloved, his blank face replaced with the letters "Honey".

"Oh my, it seems you will have another satisfied patron, August."

"Thank you for the compliment, Milady."

Rin didn't notice her expression of satisfaction pouring out of her flushed face, waving her hands around to dispel whatever they thought about her.

"Oh! Sorry about that! I was honestly surprised by how this tea and cake tasted. The way this was brewed is way different from how I do mine. I didn't expect for Darjeeling tea to have another side to it."

"Hm? Then would you like me to teach you about my technique, young lady?"

"It's alright! Now that I know the taste, I might be able to pull it off at home."

The butler was a little puzzled by what Rin said, but he smiled to brush it off and took his time serving the aristocrat on the other side of the table.

If there was one thing that Rin was perplexed about, it was the way Luvia held her tea party. Winter season is yet to end, so the cold breeze should be giving her chills. In Rin's case, she casted a bit of magic to continuously heat up her body so that she wouldn't suffer from the cold.

Luvia was as composed as she was. How could she hold off against this climate?

"I do hope that I'm not bothering you at all! You must prefer to be alone during these times. It is your first day after all!"

"You have nothing to worry about. August is with me to serve my needs. Of course, you are welcome to join me if you want to."

"It might be rude of me to ask, but why are you having tea here in such a cold weather?"

Luvia set down her teacup on the table and hugged her arms, flaunting the abundance of fat she had underneath her uniform. For some odd reason, envy picked on Rin's mind.

"Hmm...To savor the heat of a warm drink, a person must feel the need to do so. In this case, the weather is a perfect opportunity to have warm tea."

Rind found Luvia's logic to be...peculiar. From what she could tell, London suffers from erratic weather conditions. Did she develop some sort of tolerance to the sometimes freezing temperature of the country?

"I really don't think that's how warm tea is supposed to be used in this context."

"What do you mean?"

"As much as I like drinking hot tea in a cold climate, wouldn't it be logical to just stay indoors to keep our bodies warm? That is why heaters and kotatsus were invented."

"Kotatsu?"

August answered Luvia's question.

"It's a table with a built-in heater underneath. Usually the Japanese people would use it during winter season, when the temperature drops to a certain degree."

"An interesting piece of machinery... August, we will purchase one after the end of class."

"As you wish, Milady."

August pulled out a notepad from one of his pockets and quickly jotted down something in it. It might be related to what the twin-drilled classmate of hers requested.

"Now, where did our discussion paused?"

"Um...It's better to stay indoors in a cold climate?"

"Hmm...True, your words do hold logic. But, let me ask you this. Why are you having lunch here on this very rooftop? As you have said earlier, it's better to be inside than to drink warm tea in this god-forsaken cold."

"Eh? Well, I like to eat here. Watching the scenery puts me at ease."

"...Is that all?"

"Huh?"

Luvia's tone of voice changed, as it sounded to get a bit deep, and Rin didn't know why. Was it something she said earlier?

"Rin Tohsaka, was it?"

"Hm? I haven't introduced myself, so someone must have told you."

"'Edelfelt'...Does my family name ring any bells?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're trying say here."

"To be honest, I am glad to have discovered another Mage in this city, someone I can truly relate to."

Rin almost spat out the satisfying tea she was drinking from the sudden revelation.

"Pfft! Wait, what?!"

"Yes, Rin Tohsaka. I too am a Mage."

Rin never suspected at all that Luvia is a mage. But, now that she knew the very fact, that helped her realize a few things regarding her strange nature.

 _'Are mages supposed to have some kind of quirk to go along with their eccentricities?'_

Rin cupped her chin as she was in deep thought from Luvia's reveal to her identity.

"Ohohohoho! Surprising, isn't it?"

"Eh...Well it does explains a few things, so guess it makes sense."

"Hmm? Could you be more specific?"

The twin-tailed girl raised her index finger as she went on to explain her observations.

"First off, the reason you could tolerate this climate. You must have used some kind of spell to regulate your body heat, just as much as I did."

The middle finger followed up.

"Second, London is the base headquarters of the Mage's Association. The possibility of you being a member is rather high, yet you could be a lone Mage from a well-known family... This reasoning led me to the third and last point of inquiry."

The ring finger was raised to count her third assumption.

"It's your purpose, Edelfelt-san. The only reason a mage would visit a city like Fuyuki at this point in time could only mean one thing: they are chosen to be participants for the Holy Grail War. Is that correct?"

"...So you were able to think of things that far. I applaud you for that degree of deduction skills, but there are a few things you're mistaken about."

"Eh, I got some points wrong?"

Luvia sighed, possibly out of disappointment. Did that mean she was wrong in some of her assumptions?

"It's true that I came here from the Clocktower, but I transferred to this educational facility of my own volition. I absolutely do not have any idea what you meant about the Holy Grail War or me being a participant to it."

"What?! THE Clocktower?!"

Rin now dubbed Luvia as the weirdest person she had ever met. The Clocktower is the best place for mages to study Magic, as it is also the very headquarters of the Mage's Association. Yet, this very lunatic in front of her transferred here in this very normal private school to leave it all behind?!

"Then what is your purpose for coming here, to Fuyuki?!"

"...I-it's for personal reasons! I can't have someone like you know of my real purpose here!"

-0-

A certain redhead sneezed but he didn't know why. He brushed it off and continued fixing one of the heaters in the school, even if it were lunch break.

-0-

"Then you don't know anything about the Holy Grail War?"

"Holy Grail War? I don't know anything about that."

Whatever Luvia's reasoning was, it seemed more important than what Rin had assumed. It would mean that the aristocrat wouldn't be joining the Holy Grail War as she had thought.

"But, thanks to you, I finally found my second reason for coming here."

"...Come again?"

"Rin Tohsaka. Now that I found a member of the Tohsaka family, as the upcoming head of the Edelfelt famiy, I will reclaim what is rightfully ours!"

The blondie had declared that, but Rin still didn't get what she meant. With a drop of the hat, Luvia pulled out her right hand and pointed her index finger as she quickly stood up from her seat. A black light glowed at the tip of the raised finger and it flew past Rin as it melted a hole through the screen fence.

She recognized this spell so well. Why wouldn't she? That was one of her main spells, after all.

"Gandr?"

"Most of the spells that the Tohsaka family used were inherited from the Edelfelts, yet you claimed the art to be yours. You know that's plagiarism, right?"

Rin bumped her fist on top of her free palm, finally realizing something that she shouldn't have forgotten.

"Ah! It didn't click at first, but now I remember where I saw your family name. True, the Tohsaka's inherited Gemstone Magecraft and the Gandr Spell, but there is a reason our family uses it. The Edelfelts gave us the opportunity to study it, so it's considered a shared craft, don't you think?"

"..."

Luvia was stunned by this explanation. Rin was truly confused with what exactly was happening, but she unknowingly mocked the new girl.

"*sigh* Don't tell me you didn't think that far ahead with our family history?"

The school bells rang. It alarmed the students that lunch break was near its end. Hearing this, Rin stood up from her seat and thanked the old butler who was a few feet away from the table.

"Thank you for the tea, Mr. August. I truly enjoyed it! I hope I get to sip one more cup some other time."

"It's my pleasure to serve."

She then walked towards Luvia and talked to the noble.

"Can I call you Luvia? Let's hurry to the classroom. We can resolve whatever it is you want to speak to me about at a later time. I don't want to miss today's lesson."

"How can you be so calm in this situation? You do know that your life is on the line, right?"

"We're on school grounds. I don't want the others to get involved. You do know that Magic is non-existent in this side of the world, right? Also, it would be best to resolve this conflict with the use of a more diplomatic method. What do you say?"

Rin reached out her hand to Luvia, as if to call for truce. The twin-drilled mage looked at it, as if considering her options. Sadly, she didn't reach out for it and walked towards the exit.

"I can't accept that arrangement so easily, Tohsaka. I still see a brawl to be the perfect way to resolve this conflict, so be careful when you turn your back on me in private like this. August, were off!"

August nodded and pulled something out of the table. A few moments later, everything that was set-up for a tea party disappeared and transformed into a big, black attaché case, including the chairs. Luvia then walked out of the exit, with the butler tailing her, Leaving Rin all alone in the open space.

"...Will she really hold onto those words? It seemed to me that she just wants to be friends, although she might get onto my nerves later on."

-0-

She jinxed herself. That's probably it.

It's the last day of the month, a few weeks since Luvia's arrival. The twin-drilled aristocrat had considered her a true rival and would always challenge her in their off-times.

For obvious reasons, they held the fights in a very secluded area, preferably the forests behind school grounds. For the most part, Rin considered these duels a good practice, but something inside was telling her that she should take these fights more seriously, to not back down at all. Due to that, the duels turned into an all-out brawl that it sometimes affected the outside world.

It was also due to these fights that they became a sort of best buddies. Why is that?

"Ms. Fujimura is a good teacher, don't you think so too, Luvia-san?"

"...Uh-huh."

"Hm? You seem awfully quiet, is there something wrong, Luvia?"

Rin never got her alone time in the rooftop during lunch since then. Luvia always accompanied her as they eat lunch together. Ayako would sometimes join them, as she was currently present in their afternoon chat.

Not that it mattered, but she really wished Luvia would back-off sometimes. They even call each other through their first names now, but that was probably due to Luvia's culture influence.

In any case, in front of other people like Ayako, the blondie would put up a civilized etiquette in many things. She was also able to compete with her in terms of grades that they would always tie, as much as how their duels would always result in a draw.

Rin found it weird that they have the same preferences to some things, which irritated her. Same case with Luvia too, as she had said one time that they were too much alike. Even then, they couldn't drop out those preferences easily as they had grown into it.

Especially if those preferences also concerned a certain boy they both apparently took a liking to.

"Hm? Well...I was just wondering what Shero could be doing right now."

"...Luvia, you're drooling, wipe it off."

"Emiya? Ah, that's right! Usually he would spend lunch break together with Ryuudou at the Student Council Room. Now that I thought about it, you never asked him to eat lunch with you, right?"

"W-what d-do y-you m-mean, Ayako?! I-I was j-just c-curious, that's all! I-it's n-not l-like I-I li-li-li-li-"

The blondie was choking due to stuttering.

"Luvia-san?! Here, drink some tea! Hurry!"

"...Just what do you see in him anyway? Sure, he's a nice person, but he's like that to anyone. Could it be that you interpreted that kindness to something else, Luvia?"

"Hah...Hah...Hm? What's with the rude tone, Rin? I really don't think there's anything wrong with Shero..."

"Well, you're worlds apart, so that's one obstacle."

"True love can transcend any status in society, Rin. It doesn't matter if you're rich or a commoner. As long as there is love, it will remove the boundaries that keep them apart! Ohohohohoho!"

"Spoken like a true maiden in love. It's kind of obvious that you like Emiya since you would cling to him every chance you get. Sadly he's dense to not see it though."

Rin found Luvia's infatuation to be levels of ridiculous. She didn't inquire any further and breezed through lunch break in silence. A few meters away, she could see Luvia's butler standing on a nearby building, watching over the girl.

 _'Since Luvia is a mage, August must be some kind of combat butler.'_

Accompanied with the many voices of students enjoying their lunch, Rin could hear Luvia chat away with Ayako, their topic of interest is the noble's crush.

"Rin, will you be available later?"

Luvia was asking her if they could have another duel after class.

"Hm? Oh...Sorry but not today, Luvia. I have an important business to attend to. Maybe some other time. Will that be alright?"

Ayako caught wind of the two girl's conversation and joined in.

"I've always wondered this, but why do the two of you meet after class?"

""Huh?""

"I would always see you go into the woods and a few minutes later, the two of you looked exhausted as heck. Just what are you guys up to?"

That was something Rin did not expect at all. Who would have thought that there was actually one person who would notice her and Luvia going into the woods? Thinking about it, the Archery Club building was located near the back entrance of the school, so that could be the only way Ayako would have noticed them.

"Could it be...?! Luvia-san, I thought you liked Emiya, but was it Rin all along?!"

Rin spat out the green tea she was drinking and had a coughing fit. Luvia was all sorts of confused by what the kinky lady of the group had said.

"Huh? But I do like Shero. I really don't know what you're trying to say, Aya-"

"There is no way we will get along _that_ _way_ , Ayako! That is a big no!"

"Really? I thought you two had a thing with each other."

"We're not! Right, Luvia?!"

"I really don't understand this conversation at all."

In the end, Ayako Mitsuzuri never got a proper explanation. Lunch break went on in its usual pace.

-0-

 _*beep*_

 _It's me. I'm sure you know, but tomorrow is the deadline, Rin._

 _It's a problem for me if you take it easy. There are only two remaining seats. I must ensure all the Masters are arranged quickly._

 _If you wish to abandon your right to become a Master, contact me today. It takes some time to dispatch a substitute magus._

 _You already show signs of the Command Spell. Quickly, summon your Servant and open the Command Spell._

 _Unless, of course, you're not planning to be a part of this Holy Grail War. If you value your life, you should run to the church quickly._

 _*beep*_

The message on the answering machine ended there.

"You don't have to tell me what to do."

* * *

 **Part 2**

"..."

Rin had prepared everything so that she could win the lottery. It was either a Saber or an Archer, leaning more to the former. It was a 50/50 chance and yet what lay before her was nothing more than dust that flew out of hiding in the four corners of the basement study.

"…Eh? Wait? What happened? I'm sure I did the ritual right."

She went through the list of things needed to do before and during the ritual. Summoning Circle? Check. Catalyst? Optional but necessary for those who have a specific hero in mind. Chant? Correctly recited. Mana? She did the ritual when her pool is at its peak, so check. Command Spells? Right where it should be, on the backside of her right hand.

"Everything seemed to be accounted for...Were there other conditions I forgot to include?"

Her contemplation didn't last long, as a sudden rumble hit the Tohsaka Residence. Rin lost balanced, with her backside hitting one of the tables she set aside.

"Waaah! That hurt!"

The commotion came from above. Worried that she was under attack, she quickly picked up a few jewels from her small chest and hurried to the ground level.

' _Isn't this a bit too soon?! I still have no idea why my ritual flunked and they attack head-on like this?! How did they get past the boundary field?!'_

Climbing the stairs that led to the ground floor, Rin quickly opened the door to the hallway and leaned her back to the wall of corner left turn. She peeked to see a cloud of dust coming from the living room, its door frame collapsed to the floor. She suspected that the intruder came from above and crashed through the roof. She slowly paced to the opening, her Gandr spell at the ready.

Whoever it was inside the living room either had the balls to face her head-on, possibly another Master who wants to take out their competition, or a Servant who was looking for its opponent. Either one was a threat but she would have to prepare for the worst.

She quickly aimed her right hand at the unknown intruder the moment she stepped into the danger zone.

"Don't you dare move, in-"

Rin paused. All she found was an empty room. A few misplaced furniture and fallen drapes that contribute to the mess caught her line of sight, but not a single person, the supposed intruder, was inside the living room. When she looked at the ceiling, no signs of forced entry were visible.

"...Am I just assuming that I was under attack? Could it be that all of this is an after effect of the summoning ritual?"

Now that she thought about it that way, the word 'failure' appeared inside her mind. Not only did she fail the summoning ritual, but she also caused mayhem inside her own home. Rin placed a hand on her forehead as she sighed in defeat, exhaustion finally catching up with her. She'll have to rethink her plans and find the reason as to why she "failed". Seeing the mess she made didn't make her feel any better. As much as she wants to clean up, she would rather rest for the day.

"Would that fake priest pay for the repair bills, seeing as this damage is part of the Holy Grail War, so to speak? What am I talking about? He should be able to do that! I guess it's time to call him."

Kirei Kotomine, the so-called fake priest, is the current overseer of the 5th Holy Grail War and is the one who currently manages the Fuyuki Church on the other side of the city. As someone who looks after the participants, he should compensate for the damages made due to the battles done inside the City and keep public eye from discovering the conflict.

She turned about face, on her way to the home phone, until she bumped into something. _Someone_.

"!"

Her fighting spirit rekindled, Rin quickly drew out her right hand, pointing her finger at the sudden arrival of the intruder.

' _When did-'_

Before the twin-tailed girl could cast her Gandr, the intruder grabbed her from the wrist and twisted it to her behind. Pushed to ground on her front, she tried to turn to see her attacker's face, but her head was pushed down to the floor by the assailant's free hand.

"Gah!"

"You! What have you done?! Where am I?! Answer me!"

Rin heard a mature sounding voice of a woman. Considering the demands being given to her, she could accept it but the physical force being given to her told her otherwise. Doubt clouded her judgement, so Rin quickly thought of a way to escape.

' _This person's strong! In that case…!'_

Before the attacker could grab her left hand, Rin poked inside her pocket and quickly grabbed a gem, chanting as she did.

 **"Whirlwind, blow! Easterly and Westerly winds form into one tornado!"**

"!"

Gust formed around them and ultimately blew the one on top of the two. When Rin was freed, she quickly stood up and stayed in the eye of the tornado.

Since the gem was still inside her skirt pocket when she activated the spell, the lower garment exploded into many pieces, leaving her with only her black undergarment. The red blouse she wore was long enough to act as a really short dress. It was good thing she was still inside her own home. If she did the same stunt outside, however...

Rin stopped her train of thought there, as she prepared for the tornado to subside.

" If that's how you want to do things, fine by me! **Parashu** "

It was cut short when something resembling a battle axe chopped the wall of wind into two. The mage quickly jumped back after seeing the spectacle and kicked one of the living room tables at the enemy. The wooden projectile was swiftly cut in half as the axe flew to her direction, making her duck to the floor. The big axe smashed its way through the wall and was vertically stuck to the wall behind it until the giant weapon dissipated into thin air.

"That was too close! You really have no intention to ask questions, are you?!"

Seeing the big wedge it left behind showed how dangerous it had been if she were to get hit from such destructive power. Rin rolled away and sprinted out of the room through the hole as she headed to the nearby stairs, shooting out Gandr on occasions to distract the enemy. Due to the dust created from the wind spell, Rin assumed that her opponent couldn't see past the blanket of white smoke.

 **"Trishula"**

And yet a trident of golden light suddenly passed right in front of the teen mage. She stopped on her tracks the moment the trident pierced the wall to her left, to which blew her back to the ground floor.

 _'Such destructive power! This person's not holding back AT ALL!'_

Rin had a coughing fit as she wearily tried to stand, but was stunned the moment she saw what was in front of her.

A tanned girl wearing some sort of belly dancing outfit stood tall as she aimed a silver longbow to her face, a bluish-white arrow drawn out of thin air. White long hair braided up to the tip swayed slightly from the wind. If her voice was of any indication, the girl could be older than she appeared to be even if she were a few centimeters higher.

Rin was still on her knees, but she knew that whatever she does at this point was useless. The gems she had on her pocket were scattered around the room, none of which was close to her reach.

One wrong step and she would be done for. She didn't want to admit defeat, but it looked like things ended for her before it even started.

But...

"...What are you waiting for?"

Why was the girl in front of her hesitating now that she had the upper hand?

"..."

A few seconds of silence was consumed until the belly dancer lowered her weapon.

"...Tch! I will search for the answers myself."

"Huh?"

"Don't follow me or you're dead."

Then the woman turned and walked away from her. Rin then heard the sound of the main entrance door loudly banging to its frame before she sighed of pure relief.

"Wait... The heck?! What was that about?!"

Even though she had survived the onslaught (for no apparent reason whatsoever), the anti-climactic fight left a very unsettling atmosphere.

Obviously something wasn't right.

-0-

"Huh... So only the Servant Archer has been summoned? Are you sure about that, Kirei?"

"That seems to be the case, Rin."

A few minutes had passed since the sudden showdown but Rin had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. As she had planned earlier, she called Kirei through the home phone that was still miraculously intact.

"And the ritual happened only recently?"

"To be more accurate, it was around a few minutes ago that the Servant's Class Name appeared in the spirit board. Are you telling me you haven't summoned your Servant yet?"

She could confirm a lot of things from the information she had just learned. Since there was only one Servant Class Name that appeared on Kirei's magical item for this day alone, it could only mean that the ritual she enacted was successful. That also meant that the person who attacked her was the Servant she had summoned: Archer.

If so, then why did that belly dancing war-freak attacked her, the Master who had called her out? What did that woman meant by what she had done? Was it the summoning ritual?

"...You were waiting for me to summon my Servant? Aren't you a little excited?"

"Tomorrow is the deadline, so I needed confirmation. Can I take your response as an acceptance for participation?"

"Sure...List my name or something. At least this makes me an official Master."

She might sound mean, but she just couldn't stand this person. Even if Kirei was his father's disciple in the past, something about the priest irks her since the first time they met. Sure, he can be nice sometimes, but something about the older guy's attitude gives her the chills.

"Then as of February 1, 1:21 AM, you shall be appointed as the Sixth Master of the Fifth Holy Grail War. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

"Well...About the ritual..."

Rin scratched the side of her cheek, carefully thinking about the words she were about to ask the fake priest.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, the house needs to be... renovated. Can the Church cover for the fees as this incident is related to the Holy Grail War...?"

Kirei, who was on the other line, suddenly cut off the connection, making Tohsaka hear a repeated sequence of high-pitched beeps in her handset. She was stunned by the silence for a few seconds before returning to reality.

"THAT DAMN STINGY PRIEST!"

Slamming the handset back to the device, Rin stomped her way back to the living room and climbed up the slightly charred stairs to the second floor. It looked like she would have to sell a bit of her gems to pay for the repairs. She can fix some of the damages with a bit of Magecraft, but based on her assessment of the damages, some parts of the living room could not be restored that way. There was also the part that she was partly suffering from Mana drainage. The summoning ritual and the earlier skirmish took a lot out of her.

On her way to her bedroom, a particular line from the earlier conversation suddenly hit her thoughts that made her stop in her tracks.

"...Did he just say that the time right now is 1:21 AM?"

It was then that she remembered about the clocks in her home. None of them had been adjusted, as she was busy preparing for the summoning ritual.

"SO I WASN'T AT MY PEAK WHEN I DID THE RITUAL?!"

That night, the genius mage Rin Tohsaka had made many mistakes she wouldn't be able to fix anytime soon.

* * *

 **Part 3**

 _Darkness._

 _That was the only thing Shirou Emiya could perceive._

 _"..."_

 _There was the possibility that his eyes were closed all this time, so he tried moving his eyelids. It yielded the same results, which made him question the possibility of being blindfolded._

 _The next thing he knew, he could not feel his muscles moving._

 _Not even a single twitch._

 _Not even a single scream escaped his breath._

 _Neither smell nor hearing aided him at the moment._

 _All of his senses were devoid of activity. He was completely frozen in place, wherever he was._

 _He could not think of any reason as to why he was subjected to such situation, making him wish it was all just a bad dream._

 _Maybe he's dead._

 _"Don't worry, you're not dead."_

 _Words directly entered his mind. The owner of the voice sounded like a man in his late 20's. He didn't know why, but it sounded familiar._

 _"Obviously you're alive, but you will be dead if you don't make your decision fast."_

 _Shirou was confused. Was that supposed to be a warning?_

 _"To be honest, I'm the one who wants you gone. But to be put in such situation, this can't be helped."_

 _Just who is this person? What did he mean?_

 _"I'm just as confused as you are, so don't ask me questions I can't answer."_

 _So he can also hear his thoughts? That's convenient._

 _"There is one thing I do know, however."_

 _That is?_

 _"I'm stuck here."_

 _What?_

 _"Also, it seems like you haven't received the mark. Strange..."_

 _Again, what did he mean?_

 _"Like I said, I can't answer questions I don't know about."_

 _..._

 _"It would be best if you wake up now."_

 _Huh?_

 _"No, really. You do know this is a dream, right?"_

 _He had already suspected as much but if it was, how could he wake up in such a paralytic state?_

 _"Here, let me help you."_

 _Then there was a sudden pain in his chest. All of his senses returned at once and the first thing he saw was red in his chest._

 ** _"At least this sates my urge to kill you, Shirou Emiya."_**

 _"...Who...Why...?"_

 _As his fading sight caught the man who had stabbed his chest with a sword, he saw a blood-curdling smile plastered in his face._

-0-

"Gah!"

Gasping for breath, Shirou Emiya was given a rude awakening. He held onto his chest, feeling the palpitations within. Sweat was released profusely through the pores all over his body as he tried to calm himself down.

A wake-up call.

The dream's contents felt different, but it still had the same awakening effect that gave him chills down his spine. As always, it was forgettable like its predecessor.

But he felt pain in his chest. Whatever that dream- no, nightmare was, it was no laughing matter. Conflict definitely happened inside his unconscious mind.

 _'Why...What are these dreams for? Could this be a sign of things to come?'_

Again, he ain't that much of a superstitious person, but considering the things happening around him lately, especially yesterday-

 _'Now that I thought about it, what was up with last night's events?'_

Fenrir.

That was the name of the person who he fought to save a girl from getting killed.

He wasn't the only one there. There was also the white-haired duo that aided him, Illyasviel von Einzbern and Accelerator. Apparently, the rogue mage was handed over to the authorities that deal with supernatural incidents. An agent from Necessarius picked him up if he remembered what the crutched teen had told him. After that, once they reached his house, the albino collapsed from 'running out of batteries'. Whether that was a deliberate statement or not, it was obvious the fight drained a lot of energy from the four survivors.

Shirou was glad nobody died, but that might be stretching it. Last night's events might not be the last fight he will be caught onto.

For that reason, he needed to master his technique. The only problem is the teacher who could help him.

 _'I wonder how those three are faring? Maybe I should check out on them.'_

Illya told them that her house was located a bit far away, so it would take time to get home. There was also Accelerator's exhaustion, to which the person was vital for her to reach their destination. Due to those reasons, Fuji-nee gave them permission to stay the night, but she would ask early in the morning what the deal was with them. It was a good thing there wasn't much blood from the unconscious girl's sweater or it would cite more inquiries from the older woman.

 _'They should be using the guest rooms on the back.'_

Shirou tried to lift his upper body out of the futon, but he felt some tugging force coming from both his arms. He looked at both directions to see the cause.

At least it answered his questions regarding his guests.

"Wha-"

There were two girls to his sides. He felt the both of them cuddling his arms. He recognized the two as his guests. Why they were in his room, he had no idea at all. His blanket partly covered his body, giving him a good view of the two.

A really good view.

Illya was on his left, wearing a purple blouse and a short, white skirt. Shirou can feel his left thigh wrapped around by the little girl's slim legs. Then the boy remembered that he was only in his boxers, the skin-to-skin contact making him feel all kinds of mixed feelings. Add to that the cute exterior the girl featured, telling his mind to not commit a crime right here, right now.

The worst part was that the girl to the right, the maiden he saved, was partly naked. She had changed out of her white sweater, replaced with a white shirt too big for her. The buttons weren't exactly helping to cover the parts that were supposed to be hidden. She too wrapped her legs around his right one, making his right hand go to the valley that he shouldn't traverse. He had already seen how beautiful the girl looked but seeing her face up-close was far more stunning. He had forgotten at first, but didn't he perform CPR and blew breath to those soft lips of hers?

 _'Fuck, get your mind out of the gutter, Shirou! Calm down and assess the situation! Remember what Issei told you about temptation!'_

"Senpai, it's morning! Wake-"

Luck wasn't on Shirou's side today, as the sliding doors opened up with Sakura being given a full view of his misfortunate positioning.

"Hm~ Fwive mwore mwinutes, Shella..."

"*Nibble Nibble*"

"...I can explain?"

A wry smile crept into Shirou's face as Sakura stood there, staring at the scene. He couldn't tell what exactly was running inside his underclassman's head of hers, but he should dissolve the misunderstanding quickly before it-

"I'm sorry for disturbing!"

"Sakura?!"

A loud bang erupted as the witness ran away from the scene of the crime, the culprit wasn't given a chance to make things right. The girl's apologetic outburst rang throughout the halls, possibly notifying the other residents in his home.

That also included his bedmates.

"Hrmm... Toooouuuuma, what's with the noise? Is it breakfast alrea-"

"..."

"..."

The one who got up first was the older girl to his right, hugging his arms with eyes wide open after rubbing off dirt from it. Both teenagers' expressions synced with each other, from a blank stare to a horrified face of realization regarding the situation. Of course, the girl got the most horrified expression of the two.

"I-I-IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Bgh!"

A strong slap to the face made Shirou Emiya revolve all across his room, the wall stopping his unintentional advance. A big red hand mark was visible all over his right cheek.

"Wha-How-Who-Who-Who are you?! What did you do to me?! D-D-Don't tell me you...You...Nooooooooooooooooo!"

"Wa-wait, please! Let me explain! It's not what you think!"

"Pervert! Lecher! Rapist! Stay away from me!

The girl was about to leave the room, to which Shirou recovered from the blow and grabbed hold of the girl with both his hands on her shoulders.

"It's not like that. Please calm down."

"Hiii?!"

He couldn't stand for the misunderstandings to pile up, so he needed her to calm down to explain himself. Also, he couldn't let her leave the room the way she was dressed at the moment, as the cold would quickly get to her exposed skin. They're in a rather delicate situation, so Shirou tried to be as composed as possible as he explains everything.

He took a deep breath and began.

"First off, I'm just as confused as you are right now. Second, I didn't do any this. And lastly, I'm sorry that you got into this situation."

"Liar! I can't trust you!"

And the red-head got shot down pretty quickly.

"N-no, I'm telling you that this isn't my doing-"

"Tell that to yourself, you panty weirdo! I can't believe a single word you said while wearing underwear over your head! Wait, now that I look closely, that's mine isn't it?!"

Shirou was confused, but was enlightened the moment he laid his hands upon one of the things women considered their prized possession and man's road to the Garden of Eden. Like the girl said, it really was on his head.

"Th-this is..."

So it wasn't only the girls that Sakura was surprised about. It was also the cloth wrapped over his head.

Oh, did I mention already that luck wasn't on his side today?

"Shirou, what happened?! Why did Sakura screa- Eh?"

What lay beyond the now open door was the "Tiger of Fuyuki", her eyes now filled with rage a few seconds after seeing the scene in front of her. To Shirou, his position may look like he was trying to persuade the girl, but for Taiga it was a very different interpretation. It looked like he was about to pounce on the half-naked, teary-eyed girl like some rabid beast. Add to that the panty on his head and she can only see a true sex offender.

"Shirou..."

"Fu-Fuji-nee...I can-"

No words were spared as a drop-kick to the chest ended it all.

Hidden under Shirou's blanket, Illya wore a cheeky grin.

* * *

 **Part 4**

9:00 AM.

That was what the alarm clock said but Rin knew that it wasn't the real time, so she adjusted it. It was due to that mistake that something incomprehensible happened last night. Not only was the living room a mess, but her Servant Archer ran away. Thinking about those things made the girl frustrated even further.

"I'm still late for class either way. I guess I'm skipping."

She stood up from her bed and went straight for the bathroom to freshen up. Staring at the mirror while she was brushing her teeth, the girl was lost in her thoughts.

Last night was an experience she will never forget. It was the second time she experienced her life being on the line, the first time was 10 years ago when she had confronted the kidnapper of a classmate of hers that she tried to save. With the exception of the duels she held with Luvia, last night was also the first time she actually fought in a magical battle with a very powerful being and tremendously lost.

Due to that experience, she thought that she may have grown both as a person and as someone studying Magecraft.

"...I should look for her. It was weird enough that she didn't recognize her own Master. On top of that, she will definitely draw attention from the other Servants."

As a Master, Rin couldn't let her Servant run amok in the streets where danger loomed in every corner, especially now that there is only one Servant left to be summoned.

Changing from her cat-print pajamas, she grabbed from her closet the usual garb she wears when going out and tied her long hair into her preferred style. Placing gems in her pocket, she took a mental note not to use these things while still inside her pockets. She also remembered that she needed to call for renovation help.

"Ugh...Maybe fixing some of the damaged parts in the living room can help to lessen the renovation fees and the burden."

There were a lot of antiques that were placed in the living room, so she thought to start with those first. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she went straight to the living room, only to see it spic and span.

"...Eh?"

Not a single sign of a deadly brawl could be seen. Every damage and destruction that was made last night disappeared, as if it never existed. Baffled by this development, the teen mage looked around curiously as to what possibly caused this phenomenon.

"The furniture, windows, and the floor are fixed. Even the big hole in the wall is gone...Why? Who could have done this? Kirei flat down rejected my request, so it couldn't be him. Ah! I should have noticed it earlier, but the stairs was fixed as well!"

Racking her brain with the many possibilities, Rin then saw a small note on top of the table. She picked it up and read its content.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

 _To the person who owns this place,_

 _By the time you would read this letter, I may have already left this city. Due to my uproar last night, I had lost judgement and attacked a complete stranger like you, with no chance of interrogation. As an apology, you will see that everything I had destroyed during that pointless squabble had been fully repaired. I know that I had done you wrong, but during that time, I was extremely confused and anger quickly took over, as I was in the middle of an important task. It may have made a bit of a difference if you had called to me at a later time. There is someone important to me that I needed to save no matter what, and because of what you did, I may have lost that opportunity. I was also responsible for the lives I had possibly sacrificed. I really don't know, but it had been a few hours since then. I really can't blame you for what happened to them, but it was too late now. The least I can do is check the situation. I need to know what happened. The same goes for you. I will come back to see to your request, but this is goodbye for now._

 _P.S. Left some curry in the kitchen. Hope you like it._

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

"...What is this?"

Rin was completely confused. The note was written in a very formal fashion, yet it totally contradicted the personality 'Archer' exuded during their fight. If anything, the grammar was very awkward, indicating that she was a foreigner. Not only that...

"What did she mean by leaving the city? Didn't she know that she would disappear if she is away from me for a long time?! She'll run out of Mana at this rate! I need to find her now!"

Rin was about to rush out of the room when she halted and took another look at the note, a part of it she found rather odd.

"...'Curry'?"

She took a quick check inside the kitchen and found a big pot filled with the brown substance mixed with potatoes, carrots, and beef. The smell wafted over her nose, the many spices put into it made her stomach grumble.

"...Maybe a bit before going off the road."

She took out a plate and placed some of the sauce on top of cooked rice. It was still hot, meaning that the cook possibly left a few minutes ago. From that she hoped that she wasn't late to find her Servant. She placed the plate on the kitchen counter, ready to eat the contents.

"T-Thank you for the food..."

Hunger taking over, Rin took a spoonful of the meal. As the girl slowly chewed her food, the flavor slowly started to show its true color. Said flavor can be seen on Rin's face as she stuttered her first impression of the taste.

"...It's...It's...IT'S SPICCCCCCCCCY! WATER! I NEED WATER!"

Desperation was evident as Rin quickly ran to the sink to drink tap water, hoping that the spiciness would disappear from her burning tongue. It wasn't enough, so she dashed to the fridge and found a milk carton lying in wait for her to open and gulped it down to the last drop. Catching her breath, the teary-eyed girl took a menacing glare at the plate of horrors.

"She's apologizing, right? This is her reconciliation gift, right?! I know that curry sometimes need to be spicy, but not this much! Just what did she put in it? Argh, if that's the case maybe I should just use a Command Spell and forcefully call her here! I'm saving this for dire situations, but it's better to use this now than wasting my time looking for her all over the city!"

Now that she thought about it, using a Command Spell could have prevented last night's incident. Of course she didn't know that the girl really was her Servant, so the idea never occurred to her. There was also the exhaustion due to things happening at a very fast rate, making the idea very obsolete until she realized now that it could actually work.

Due to that, Rin earned herself a facepalm.

"Sorry that I had to summon you at the wrong time, but you have some explaining to do right here, right now, Archer!"

Rin held out her right hand containing the Command Spells. She chanted right away her very first command.

" **By the power of the Command Spell, I order you, my Servant! Come!** "

With a quick flash of red, the kitchen was engulfed in a bright light and slowly the form of the belly-dancer appeared in front of her, posing in a way as if she was on the phone. She spoke in English with an obvious Indian accent, supplementing her country of origin.

"-'coma'? What are you talking about? What do you mean by- Huh? What the- Wait, isn't this...!"

"Yo, Archer. So for interrupting your conversation, but there are a lot of things we need to discuss about."

The belly dancer looked at her with pure confusion visible on her beautiful face.

"...Eh? 'Archer'?"

* * *

 **Part 5**

"A charger?"

"That's right."

Shirou had survived the onslaught of Taiga Fujimura, but was asked by the older woman to stay away from the girl named Index for a while. A rather bizarre name for a girl, but he didn't ask any further to avoid piling up stress on her due to this morning's shenanigans.

With the exception of Index and Accelerator, the residents had breakfast, Sakura beating him to cooking duty again. The atmosphere was heavily awkward as everyone in the table silently chewed on their food.

Shirou decided to skip for the day, as his excuse was to help the three guests search for their parents. The two regulars just silently nodded, his explanation flew off their heads, and took off. From the response alone, the boy knew that this morning's incident had a very distinct effect on them.

He did try to explain that their guests were foreigners that got lost when going around the city and asked them to stay for the night. It was a good thing Illya followed through and told them of a tale that awfully sounded like the little match girl's. The ruse tale also flew over the two girl's head, not suspecting a single thing.

Shirou and Illya currently paced themselves to Accelerator's room.

"So when you said Accelerator ran out of batteries, you really meant that he literally ran out of batteries? Does that mean he's a robot?"

"He's not a robot, but once the battery on his choker runs out, he turns akin to a vegetative state. From his explanation, apparently he got caught in an accident last year that cost him some of his cognitive functions. That choker serves as a support device to fill out those gaps."

"So that's the reason why you need a charger?"

"Exactly! That idiot didn't bring his, thinking that our trip to the city yesterday would be short, but due to yesterday's fiasco, he had to expend energy to use his powers. Ah! We're here!"

The two stopped in front of one of the guests rooms of the Emiya Residence. Shirou was rather surprised with the sudden change in the little girl's tone. At one time she would sound like her age would, but on the other, she would sound mature and calculative.

 _'What's up with those contradicting personalities? I don't get her at all.'_

Illya opened the door to Accelerator's room, sounding cutesy as she entered the unlit room.

"Accelerator!~ Wakey-wakey!~"

Shirou excused himself before he entered the room, flicking the lights on to see his guest more clearly. It looked like the white-haired boy was peacefully sleeping on the bed, but on closer inspection his eyes were already open, staring at his two visitors. Accelerator tried to lift himself up the bed, his back gently resting on the wall. He looked at Illya and then he faced Shirou. The red head greeted him as he raised a hand to wave with.

"Yo. Slept well?"

"..."

"Can't speak, huh?"

"..."

"...Ah! I know!"

As Illya explained earlier, the boy had comprehension problems that may include his conversations skills and such. Shirou remembered the robotic voice coming from the albino's choker, which completely supported the girl's claim.

From that, Shirou thought that their only way to communicate with the crippled boy right now was to use text. There would be possible comprehension problems, but he will try his best to get his message across.

Shirou pulled out the cellphone he rarely uses from his pocket and tried to hand it to Accelerator. A puzzled look invaded the boy before clumsily taking the device.

"This way, we can talk to each other."

Accelerator nodded. It looked like the bedridden teen understood his intentions. The albino clumsily typed with his thumb his message and showed the screen to him.

 **[Anything you want to ask?]**

"Illya said that the device on your neck is necessary for you to engage in physical activities. She also said that we need to charge it so that you can return to normal. But, you left your charger behind, landing you in this situation."

 **[What about it?]**

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Accelerator paused before he sighed and reached for his choker. A small click indicated that the battery was pulled out and the boy handed it to Shirou. It was really small, the size of a AAA battery. He closely inspected the thing before the white-haired boy showed him another message.

 **[You think you can charge it?]**

"I'll try... I have leftover materials back at my workshop, so I might be able to create a temporary charger."

 **[Please do.]**

"I'll be back!"

Shirou called out to Illya as she stood silently waiting behind him.

"Sorry, Illya, but could you wait for a while? I'll have to do something about this."

"Sure!~"

-0-

With that, the red headed teen stepped out of the room. Illya relaxed and dropped the childish act and faced her Servant. The half homunculus crawled to the bed and sat on top of Accelerator's lap, resting the back of her small head on top of the boy's chest

"It looks like we'll be going home after he charges up your battery."

"..."

"Aaah~ I'm bored already."

"..."

The two quietly stayed in that position. Illya thought that the silence was overbearing, since the boy behind her would always reply with a snarky tone to some of her outburst and witty comebacks.

"You should always put your charger in your pockets 24/7. Who knew that we would have to fight someone like that mage? To top it off, you wasted batteries while we were waiting for Shirou. Just what were you thinking, you stupid Servant?"

"..."

"You also left your cellphone. Communication is important in this day and age, so why didn't you bring it with you? Wait, now that I thought about it, we haven't bought a phone for the castle."

"..."

"If only you brought your charger with you, we wouldn't be in this situation at all. It's a good thing Shirou knew a bit of electrical mechanism or whatever it is that concerns science and stuff. Without him, we wouldn't be able to charge your battery. You better thank him once he's done with it.

"..."

No response came from the awfully quiet boy, even if he had Shirou's phone in his hand.

"...Hey, Berserker."

"..."

"...You're asleep, aren't you?"

"...aljbreah **MAYBE** luhua..."

For the first time in a long while, Accelerator spoke through his lips. Hearing him speak for real slightly surprised Illya, as it had been long since the boy spoke last time. She did try to understand his speech pattern during the times he did physically moved his lips and later on found a pattern.

Thanks to that, the girl could comprehend the boy a little more clearly. Obviously, the albino was truly grateful for such dedication.

Illya heard the boy sigh before he rested his chin on top of her head, earning him a complaint.

"Geh! Your head is heavy."

"agaeg **THEN** agkjha **WHY** olarhf **POSITION** uyager **LIKE** ayvrael **THIS** uiagawer **?** "

Illya grumbled before replying to Accelerator.

"Hrm...To be honest, I feel more comfortable being beside you than Shirou."

" **HEH**... ahrva **WHAT** artyau **IS** olyuge **THAT** loyarfu **SUPPOSED** iugaba **TO** lugsaey **MEAN** ayarg **?** "

"Because I'm scared."

"avbae **THAT'S** agagla **A** oaigbe **FIRST** uay7eh **…** "

Illya hugged her legs and put more weight on her back to completely rely on Accelerator's body for support. The boy lifted his chin and slowly opened his legs to the side to give way to the little girl's light body.

"aygaer **IS** oygsr **THIS** oyuge **RELATED** oyuafr **TO** jdyafr **NOISE** oyaewr **EARLIER** yrargui **?** "

"So you've been awake since then?"

"a7tre **PRETTY** yrat9 **LOUD** k7aerb **IT** ouyraer **WOKE** oyuraer **ME** ouyarr **…** "

"You must have been helpless ever since waking up."

"yafr **IT** oyar **WAS** yarv **YOU** iuaerb **WASN'T** iyagr **IT** pyiagr **?** "

Accelerator felt Illya's small body jerk as a reaction to his question. The albino went ahead and sighed.

"yarv **WAS** iyarh **THAT** yagrg **PART** iuafgrg **OF** iaserg **REVENGE** yutasfserg **PLOT** iusastg **AGAINST** iuatjugkrg **SHIROU** ytasrg **EMIYA** yiar **?** "

"Well, the opportunity was right there, so I used it."

" **WHAT** aueghrakj **DID** yseira **YOU** uyaera **DO** ouyasfer **?** "

"Remember that girl from last night? Index was her name, right? I kind of used her to harass Shirou and turn him into a sexual deviant."

"..."

The albino was silent, but Illya knew that the boy wants her to keep going with the story.

"At first I was supposed to give him the title of a pedophile by sleeping next to him, but that girl suddenly entered the room and slept on the other side."

 **"...** uatoerlzg **SLEEPWALKING** uliterga **…"**

"It could be that. To seal the title, I removed the girl's panties and placed it on Shirou's head."

" **...** yuarerg **NAUGHTY** liuterg **LITTLE** oistergs **BRAT** oliysrg **NO** oiyaer **SHAME** oy7ier **AT** oi7ger **ALL** lauite **…** "

"But because of that, Index got a bit traumatized and locked herself inside one of the guest rooms."

"lajkyfr **A** lkuayrer **LITTLE** louyfar **TOO** olyafer **SUCCESSFUL** yufrear **HUH** olayfer **?** "

"Thinking about it, I may have done something I couldn't fix and I'm scared. What if they find out that I did it?"

"liusg **YOU** ouyafr **FEEL** oyerg **GUILTY** iysrgs **…"**

"Guilty? That's impossible. There's no way I would feel guilty about what I did."

Illya heard Accelerator sigh, possibly due to disappointment.

"ioyerfa **I** yergas **DON'T** oliygs **LIKE** iuatr **IT** oyrferf **LITTLE** laiurg **DEVIL** yafraf **…** uyafr **NOT** iuara **…** yafrf **ONE** layfr **…** layervl **BIT** kuyfraesr **…"**

"..."

"ayferbfa **HEARING** aigerfga **SOMETHING** liuatr **BAD** oyiafr **HAPPEN** iyarga **TO** oiuafr **ACQUAINTANCE** lyafrav **WOULD** oyuafra **EARN** luiaGF **PUNISHMENT** liafag **FROM** auyfvrfa **ME** hpaiug **…"**

"Uuuhh..."

Illya, for a lack of better term, was someone who stopped growing as a human and was raised as a weapon for the Holy Grail War. Her feeling guilty was an unprecedented phenomenon, yet Accelerator could understand what the girl was going through. That was why he could only offer one word of advice.

"apuiga **APOLOGIZE** liugag **…"**

"Hey, didn't you just hear what I said? Sure, confessing to the girl to ease my guilt would be fine, but Shirou is my real target, meaning I wouldn't feel guilty when I do those kinds of things to him at all, even in the near future."

"lyargas **NOT** liaugr **MY** oyagr **PROBLEM** oausge **…"**

"Are you really helping me dissolve the situation or not?"

"pisugg **I'M** usgeras **TELLING** psuigsr **BETTER** oyarrs **SAY** uoyfraer **SORRY** ouyfsrr **BEFORE** uyafr **TOO** ayifraar **LATE** ouyafr **…."**

"Huh?"

Illya was utterly confused with the meaning of Accelerator's message, but the boy continued as if to disregard that ignorance.

"lahferaf **I'M** liaurfa **SURE** olyZFSa **GIRL** lpizgser **WILL** oyuafsf **FORGIVE** oyafrfh **YOU** iyafpuag **COMPLETELY** yifasyfva **…** "

"What makes you say that?"

"lsyfr **NUN** usfav **…** "

"Eh? A nun? Her? That's impossible! Shouldn't they be staying at convents or something and always wear habits?"

"layfrv **YOUR** oyiar **VIEW** layfra **KIND** olaiyfr **OF** liuafr **STANDARD** olaiu **…** "

"As if you know would what they do on church, you atheist! You thought that she would be a mini-confessional or something?"

"lyfarvs **NUNS** loiuafr **SHOULD** aifrafga **BE** ayufra **NICE** yafrval **PEOPLE** uyafra **…** "

"..."

"..."

A few minutes of silence passed, and Illya broke the emptiness with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll try confessing. But it's not because you told me to, so don't get the wrong idea."

Hearing this, Accelerator lifted his right hand and continuously patted the little girl's head. Illya was a bit flustered from this action.

"oiusagr **GOOD** oliuaga **GIRL** lpiuFs **…** "

"S-Stop that!"

"lafgroah **STOP** loiufgr **WHAT** yaffar **?** "

"That, whatever you're doing right now!"

 **"** oiayfag **MAKE** oyiafa **ME** oiyafa **…"**

"Grr..."

"lagrasajb **NO** oiaugf **RESISTANCE** pouatra **…** oiyaga **YOU** oiuaa **LIKE** oayffbga **?** "

"Don't make me waste my energy today, Berserker."

"..."

A wild hug appeared, surprising Illya even further.

"Hyah! Now you're hugging me! You have no tact at all, you-"

The hug got tighter, but the albino's silence was what surprised Illya even more.

"..."

"Berserker?"

"..."

"Hrrmm... Jeez, just what is with you today?"

"..."

"..."

They stayed like that for a few minutes until Accelerator moved his lips again.

"jhafrv **WHAT** iaufrkg **YOU** liuarb **DO** oyiafrlkj **IF** uyarw **I** oiarogi **DIED** oiarla **YESTERDAY** oiargiau **?** "

Last night's fight flashed in Illya's mind. Back then, she was shocked when she felt her connection to Accelerator disappear out of nowhere. Fear easily overcame her whole body and she almost cried. It reminded her of the time her parents disappeared from her life 10 years ago.

The half-homunculus knew her parent's duty as participants of the Holy Grail War, but back then she was still a confused child. The reality of the situation was suddenly forced upon her, telling her that Kiritsugu left her mom to die and ran away.

The pain wasn't gone. In the first place, it never left the innocent part of her heart.

Realizing that the same thing could happen to Accelerator, it was the same feeling. Did that mean she considered the boy as someone important to her too? Illya always saw the albino as a disposable weapon to claim her desires. But, ever since their meeting two months ago, she started to notice unusual burst of emotion within her.

She would be irritated when he does something stupid.

Angry when she was being ignored.

Joy when she sees him partly suffering but apologetic a few seconds later.

 **Sadness when he almost died yesterday.**

"..."

Illya peeked at the boy's face, only to see him sleeping again.

"This person, taking a nap like there's no tomorrow. Is he some kind of cat?"

She was not able to answer his question verbally, but she did not leave her Servant's side. The little girl snuck in closer to the #1 Esper's now unconscious frame and closed her eyes.

 _'You shouldn't say strange things like that. You're the strongest person I've ever known. You wouldn't die so easily.'_

She grasped his shirt tightly, with no intention of letting go.

-0-

A few hours later, Shirou returned with the fully charged battery. When he saw the two sleeping in that weird position, the boy decided to return later and quietly turned off the lights and closed the door.

"It looked like something happened while I was gone. Better to leave them alone, I guess."

He didn't know this people much, so he really couldn't intervene with whatever moments they were having. But seeing them like that gave him a case of diabetes.

* * *

 **Between The Lines 3**

People worry for those they truly care about. It is most obvious when they see them in pain. They will never leave their side, not wanting them to disappear within their sights. It is not a complicated feeling, that's for sure. Human nature taught people to care for one another.

That is a stated fact most people knew about already.

Inside a certain hospital room, a girl with chestnut hair never took her eyes away from the person she cared for the most.

* * *

 **Edit: Made a revision in Rin and Luvia's conversation, specifically Clocktower being separate from MA...Corrected that already. Sorry for being forgetful as this particular topic was literally talked about in the first part of the previous chapter.**

A/N: For those who have read Unlucky Servants before coming here, Welcome. For those who started with False Reality, it's nice to see you guys again.

This term was hell, making the release more delayed than it should have. At the very least, I survived and now eligible to take thesis next term.

...Which would delay my chapter release even further.

There are a few things I need to point out in relation to the previous chapter's content. Some of you may have wondered about the adventures of Souichirou Kuzuki as Anti-Skill and that not showing up in this chapter. I'm really sorry that I can't show it to you guys right now, as I had figured it would spoil some of the twists of the story. I'll release an SS Chapter at a later time once the twist is revealed. For now, no Kuzuki action.

To some degree, whatever I wrote regarding Accelerator and Illya's relationship back in Unlucky Servant kind of affected this story, so I hope I'm not being a bother to that. Just remember that US and FR are two different stories with different continuities.

This is mostly a relationship establishment chapter, focusing on Rin/Luvia, Rin/'Archer', Shirou/Index, and Illya/Accel. Please take off your shipping glasses. I haven't decided on any pairings at all.

Who could be that mysterious girl in the between the lines section? Hmmm...

Special thanks to Encendrel for doing beta work for this chapter! Really appreciate it!

That's all for now, I guess. Leave a review if you want to and thank you for reading. I'll see you guys in the next update! Happy Holidays!

P.S. Mental Note: Never watch/read Shokugeki no Souma in the middle of writing a fanfic.


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